Joined: Tues, Sept 15, 2016

monophony: single voice (not necessarily one voice), unaccompanied melody

homophony: single voice with accompaniment

song texture (homophony):

• layered
• melody + accompaniment

chordal harmony (all parts move together, familiar choir texture)

polyphony:

• two or more independent voices
• most difficult to hear
• “strict” rules called counterpoint rules for combining melodies
• simple example: rounds (“row, row, row your boat”)

How to do well?

• pick random songs and try to get the texture of the songs

metre:

• duple or triple normally

• duple (one, two, one, two)
• triple (strong beat on beat one; one, two, tree, one, two, three, etc.)

Form (pg. 30)

• two things you can do, repetition doing the same, or something different (contrast)
• form can be small or on a (very) large scale
• note potential quiz questions
• common forms: binary A-B, A-B-A, A-A-B-A

General Dynamic

• forte, piano, pianissimo

Melodic Range:

• wide for notes that are very high and very low
• folk song, nursery rhyme, few notes used

Instruments:

• covered in next class

These are the criteria for the listening quiz

Joined: Tues, Sept 15, 2016

Rondo, keep coming back to the same thing

“Come Ye Sons of Art”
AABCBCC

Instruments:

Sachs/Hombostel classifications:
Aerophones: brass, woodwinds
Chordophones: strings, guitars, banjos, lutes, harps, etc.
Idiophones: percussion (vibrating body)
Membranophones: drums (vibrating membranes)

some suggest electrophones for instruments that produce sound electronically (synthesizers, turntables, etc.)

Aerophones:

Brass: trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, pipe organ

Woodwinds:
(single reed): clarinet, saxophone
(double reed): oboe, English horn, bassoon
(no reed): flute

Chordophones:
Strings: violin, viola, cello, double bass (all generally bowed)
Guitars: Membranophones: drums, kettledrums, etc.

Ensembles:

Orchestras (symphony and otherwise) Large mixed ensemble (strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion)

Chamber music (small ensemble of any makeup) String quartet, woodwind quartet, brass quintet, piano trio, percussion ensemble, etc. mixed ensembles (voices and instruments) chorus plus orchestra

Medieval

Medieval Music:

Sacred and Secular Music

Middle Ages to Early Polyphony:

Chapter 4:

Two historical period:

• early middle ages: 400 to 1000 AD

• later middle ages: 1000 AD to 1400 AD

• feudalism with kings, queens, nobles, servants
• more centralized economic system involving trade and commerce
• middle class arose in the later middle ages
• christianity increased the availability of learning
• artistic endeavor was the cathedral

• an oral tradition for music to be passed from generation to generation

• from the 8th or 9th century
• liturgical music, music used in church services

Gregorian Chant is named after Pope Gregory I:

• credited by medieval legend with having created chant (even though it evolved over many centuries)

Texture of early plainchant:

• monopohnic

Kyrie Eleison

• words are in Greek (not Latin)

Melismatic

• many notes sung to a single syllable

Secular Song

• 12th century
• troubadours (poet-musicians)
• trouvères in Northern France
• wrote own poetry and music
• primary topic = courtly love

Female Troubadour:

• Beatriz de Dia
• trobairitz (female troubadour)
• late 12th century
• “strophic”, same music repeated for all stanzas of the poem
• Occitan sometimes called Provençal

vielle, bowed instrument and a low wooden flute

Polphony arose in 10th century, around 1200 A.D.

Who Wrote the great book of Polyphony?

• Leonin and Perotin

Viderunt Omnes

• free flowing
• marked by very clear-cut rhythms

Late Medieval:

• Guillaume de Machat
• administrator, poet, and composer

Renaissance (1400 - 1600)

• Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael
• “rebirth” french neé, birth
• rebirth of ancient greece

word painting

• music goes with the words

Concert

• Grebel on Wednesdays
• Manitoba Symphony on Thursday Night

Motets:

• usually four voices, unaccompanied, sacred text

madrigals

Baroque Vocal Music:

Opera:

• opera invented in baroque
• drama that is sung
• combines all of the arts
• uses soloists, chorus, orchestra, dancers
• Commedia del Arte (Opera first developed in Italy)

Conventions in Baroque Opera:

• Overture
• Recitatives
• Arias
• Ensembles (duets, trios, etc.)
• Choruses (“big finish” of an act or opera)
• Baroque Opera is spectacle (“opera seria”, “opera comique”, flying machines, trap doors)

Orfeo, Monteverdi (Orpheus)

• Eurydice
• goes to underworld to try to save to her

www.themusictimes.info
(Concerts in Waterloo area)

Handel(1685 - 1759)

• composed in all idioms
• instrumental music
• operas ex. Julius Caesar

Oratoria
similar to opera

• sacred ones
• difference is the theatrical difference
• just a concert, much cheaper than a theater

(Don’t need to memorize dates in this class)

Messiah:

• overture
• opera-like
• solo from prophet, aposls, disciples,

Midterm info:

• relevant information, know which historical era the music is from
• who made the music
• notes are mostly his guidelines

25 questions on general topics

Classical Period (1750-1800(25?))

old fashioned, stood test of time, best/highest example of a type, Ancient Greek/Roman Civilization

Read Chapter 7

The Enlightenment: late 18th - early 19th century (age of Reason)

modulation: changing from one key to another
libretto: A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical.
chorus: chorus contains the main idea, or big picture, of what is being expressed lyrically and musically. Theme and variation: involves idea of contrast, theme is presented and played several times where it is varied in melody ,rhythm, dynamics, tempo, or harmony. The theme is recognizably changed and yet recognizably the same. meter: the recurring pattern of stresses or accents that provide the pulse or beat texture: the way different music sounds are combined absolute music: Music that has no meaning outside the meaning of the music itself and the feelings it produces in its listeners Program music: Music that tells some kind of story

Medieval:

• written primarily to accompany religious services
• the oldest surviving written music from the middle ages dates from about 800, but may be older
• later in the period, secular songs, songs with nonreligious tops became popular
• polphony music containing more than one line started to appear

Plainchant (plainsong):

• Greogrian chant after Pope Gregory I
• polyphonic, one line at a time
• syllabic, one note for every syllable, or melismatic large number of notes per single syllable
• neumatic small number of notes per syllable

earliest polyphony was organum (12th-13th centuries). Initially, voices added above and below in parallel. Independent movement was an important development.

Kyrie (plainchant)

Plainchant:

• flowing rhythm no clearly defined beat
• single musical line, without harmony
• use of modes, rather than scales

Secular Song and Polyphony:

• Troubadours and trouveres

Peritonus Alleluya, Nativitas (Magister Leonin)

Two composers created first great collection of compositions Magnus Liber and Organi

Fundamentals of Medieval Music:

• based on modes, not major scales
• plainchant was sung in unison, with no harmony or accompaniment
• stylized courtly love songs became popular
• instruments varied
• polyphony was invented

Renaissance Era:

• rebirth

Three major changes:

• new focus on individual achievement
• greater focus on the daily world than on the spiritual afterlife

• widespread mingling of cultures, facilitated by easier travel and spread of printed materials

• music followed imitation where the opening of the same melody is performed by different voices entering one at a time
• still primarily modal, although some more modern harmony

A cappella - no instrumental accompaniment

liturgical music: for the masses
motets: songs that have religious texts but are not part of the actual services
secular: nonreligious songs

motet: four voice parts, small choir rather than soloists
word painting: echoing the meaning of words in music

Chansons (France), madrigals (Italy - England): 3 or 4 voices, mostly courtly love songs

Dance music (see note pp. 113): there was always dance music but once again, publishing served a growing market.

Instrumental forms -> earliest published instrumental music. Wide variety - pavanes, allemandes, bourees, gigues, rondes, courantes, galliardes, sicilianos, salterellos, etc.

fundamentals:

• sound is smooth and homogenous
• harmony still primarily based on modes
• most prominent feature is imitation
• vocal genres includes Mass movements, motets, and secular songs
• motets and madrigals: often use word-painting, which can involve dissonance
• instrumental music is either serious and imitatitve or light and dancelike

Baroque:

• emphasis on scientific understanding and measurement
• interest in balance, order, and organization
• artists highlighted contrasting emotions
• illusion was highly prized

Vocal forms:

• opera: large scale stage productions featuring music, dance, costumes, and elborate plots and settings
• cantata: short-unstaged operas portraying a single scene
  church cantata: religious subject
  chamber cantata: secular subject
• oratorio: opera-like work with religious theme, not short
• chorale: protestant hymm sung in unison by the entire congregation with a simple melody and regular rhythm

doctrine of affections (affektenlehre). . . in Baroque terms, music not only ought to arouse emotions - it actually makes the listener experience certain emotions.

conventions:

• Overture
• Recitatives: used for carrying forward the plot, simple fast speechlike
• Arias
• Ensembles
• Choruses

Instrumental Forms:

• concerto: instrumental work based on opposition of two groups
  concerto grosso (large concerto) full orchestra and small group of soloists

  solo concerto: full orchestra and single soloist

• sonata: chamber work for a small group
  sonata da camera(chamber sonata): movements based on dance rythms
  sonata da chiesa(church sonata): more serious movements alternating slow and fast
• dance suite: series of short, contrasting dance movements

basso continuo: strong bass line in Baroque music.

dance suite, not for dancing independent genre:
allemande: duple, moderate tempo, continuous motion
courante: triple. moderate to fast, motion often in running scales
sarabande: triple, slow, stately, accent often on second beat
gigue: usually 6/8, fst, lively, often imitatitve

Cantata (sacred and secular)

Work for vocalists w\instrumental acc. (choruses added later), poetic text
Italian cantata: 3 genres: lyric, dramatic, narrative

Passions

Passion plays (depiction of the last days and Crucifixion of Christ) - earliest known form of European theatre. Not surprising that music is incorporated early on.

Sonata

note that “sonata” is a confusing term that shifts its meaning over time.
several movements or sections of contrasting nature (not essentially different from a suite)
chamber sonata (da camera): dance origin
church sonata (de chiessa): more serious, polyphonic
small # of instruments (1-8)

Concerto
note later, slightly different, classical sense
Contrast - two groups
either solo concerto or concerto grosso (concertino-small grp, ripieno or tutti (“all”)-large group)

ritornello: contrast between the solo instruments and the orchestra
reformation: church music:
chorale: hymm with steady rhythm and simple tune usually sung in unison by the whole congregation
oratoria: large-scale work like an opera but is a sacred story not staged. (similar to Passion)

Bach:

• composed in all Baroque instrumental and vocal styles, except opera
• master of counterpoint and his works have served as models for composers and students ever since
• wrote different music depending on the job he had currently:
  early years (organist) primarily organ music
  middle years (leading orchestra in Cothen) keyboard and instrumental music
  final years (working in a church school in Leipzig) primarily religious choral music, as well as some final instrumental works

2 wives, at least 19 children. . . 4 became composers of note (Johann Christoph, Johann Christian, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Wilhelm Friedemann).

prelude: rambling, improvisatory piece that organists play to fill in before, during, and after church service.
fugue: carefully worked out polyphonic composition that uses a theme that occurs in all voices of musical lines

Music Offering: two fugues, ten canons and a trio sonata by Bach. Shows skill at counterpoint.

fundamentals of baroque:

• instrumental music is as important as vocal music
• opera was invented, with vocal forms divided between recitative and aria
• principal vocal genres are opera, cantata, and oratorio
• principal instrumental genres are sonata, suite, and concerto
• music is organized by a hierarchy of chord and keys (tonal harmony)
• unifying feature of all Baroque music is the basso continuo

Classical Period (1750-1800/(25?))

• “age of reason” - applied scientific methods to human society
• elevated science/the rational over religion/faith - rejected superstition, prejudice, and long-held beliefs in favour of what could be measured scientifically
• “All men are created equal” valued individual freedom and equality over the older class system

The Enlightenment: late 18th - early 19th century (Age of Reason)

characteristics of Classical Era:

• balanced melodic phrases
• simple harmonies
• light accompaniment

Genres of Classical Music:

Opera:
comic opera: simpler music, down-to-earth characters, and amusing plots

Symphony:
overture: instrumental introduction in three short movements: fast-slow-fast (sinfonia)

Chamber Music:
duets, trios, quintets, for various instrumental combinations
string quartet: four stringed instruments (two violins, a viola, a cello)

Alberti Bass: continuously moving pattern of short notes

Forms of Classical Music:

• sonata form: intellectually demanding, composers used it for their most serious ideas(had exposition, development, and recapulation)
• minuet-and-trio-form: third movements in sonatas, symphonies, and string quartets (3/4 meter, moderate tempo)triple metre, AABB CCDD AABB (or AB)
• aria form: simple (melody first key, new melody new key, repeated from first key, slightly modified)
• rondo form: fourth movement, fairly lively or catchy tune

Four-Movement Structure:
1: Sonata, Tonic
2: Aria or Sonata or Theme and Variations, Dominant, Subdominant, or relative minor
3: minuet-and-trio, tonic (trio is sometimes in a different key)
4: rondo or sonata, tonic

• most common is the sonata form
• galant: Fashionable, up-to-date
• masters of classical style were Haydn and Mozart

Romantic Era

• emotion, intuition, subjective, spontaneous, personal

Programmatic Piece

Opera

• romantic Era

Madame Butterfly

Orchestra:

• December 1st 8:00pm Hagey Hall, Classical Concert

Opera

Wagner (1813-1883)

• German Nationalist

Flight of the Valkyries

Romantic (non-opera) music continued

song

Schumann

Tchaikovsky

Final Exam has multiple choice and long answer

• can be cumulative
• out of ten marks

Post-Romanticism

Wagner

Mahler

Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949)

impossible to talk about 20th century music under one label

Impressionism Debussy and Ravel

final is similar to the midterm

• generally know time period, not memorize Bach’s birthday

Section 1 consists of 10 brief recorded examples. Each example will be played four times. You will be asked to answer four questions about each example. The examples are from the Naxos Music 100 playlist and at least one question per example will concern identification (piece, composer, etc.). You will have heard all these examples in class.

Section 2 covers second half material: theme, theme and variations, rubato, Apollo, Dionysus, Enlightenment, lieder, strophic song, through composed, requiem, absolute music, exoticism, diva, prima donna, grand opera, bel canto, libretto, overture, ensemble, chorus, expressionism, impressionism, Bayreuth, Ring Cycle, music drama, leitmotif, chromaticism, tone poem, post-romantic, polytonality, polyrhythm, primitivism, populism, additive rhythm, atonality, serialism, 12-tone technique, tone row, expressionism, Second Viennese School, sprechstimme, aleatoric music, minimalism, musique concrete, prepared piano, klangfarbenmelodie.

Section 3 consists of two “essay-type” questions (10 marks each) concerning any of the material we have studied. There will be at least five questions in total from which you may choose any two.

Impressionism

Primitivism

• nothing primitive about primitistic music

Igor Stravinsky

• (1882 - 1971)
• Russian student of Rimsky-Korsakov
• 3 ballets (note non-absolute music)
• songs: firebird, petrushka, the rite of spring
• music had groups of 2s and 3s, hard to dance to

(1st ballet) firebird:

• ends in 7/4 times

(2nd ballet) petrushka:

• flutes

(3rd ballet) rite of spring:

• rhythm and time is important
• energy is important
• hated and loved by people
• argument when it was first played

World War I

• world politics

Tonality Rejected

• strong and rigorous intellectual backing
• hard to hear the logic of what is going on

Arnold Shoenberg

The scream

• early 20th century

schoenberg pierrot lunaire1

• lady singing
• strange tone

12 tone system of schoenberg

• use the same tone again
• must use all the tones before going back

schoenberg music

• seems random, but has tenants that follow Bach
• anxious and seems random for music

Alban Berg (1885 - 1975)

Serialism:

• in serial composition, the initial choice of materials (the row) controls all aspects of the composition

Anton Webern

• killed by American sniper in Vienna

holst, Mars:

• fast
• brass triumphant
• space feel

tonal idiom:

1) Conservatism Many composers think the old way of doing things is the better way and don’t think tonality is “mined out”

2) Populism/Nationalism Many composers choose to write accessible music to stay connected with a larger audience

3) Compulsion

• Nazi Germany

Shostakovich

• same old style

Aaron Copland

Fanfare for the Common Many
Hoedown from Rodeo

Cage

Sonatas

• very random percussion sounds

Varese “Ionisation”

• sirens, plane sounds
• percussion

Klangfarbenmelodie “tone colour” melody

Stockhausen

Crumb “Music for a Summer Evening”

• notation example on pg. 256
• sounds like random notes on piano
• has large pauses of silence
• small parts of melody in piano

reich, nagoya marimba:

• play a note and let it go for a while
• feels silent with marimba

glass satyagraha:

• repeating patterns

lanksy notjustmoreidlechatter:

• crazy frog-like
• techno-ish
• reminds me of daft punk
• robotic

Final Exam Notes

Beethoven:

• born in 1770, Germany
• Beethoven’s master was Haydn
• clashed, Haydn was old-fashioned and Beethoven was rebellious
• in 1802 revealed he was going deaf

music:

1. crescendos that seem to carry the music forward
2. themes that sound exactly right but are played very quietly or very loud
3. dramatic use of classic structures
4. sudden key changes that fit powerful harmonic logic

symphony #5

• dramatic sounds
• woodwinds and horns echo each other

contribution:

• longer symphonies that use more instruments than the Classical Period traditionally
• expanded the orchestra

Romantic Period

• post French revolution Reason emotion, intuition Objective subjective Formal spontaneous Universal personal

• early 19th to beginning of 20th century
• development of modern industry
• growth of democratic governments and national pride
• increased emphasis on individual thoughts and feelings in the creative arts
• manipulate orchestral sounds, orchestration

Dynamics:

• Classic music doesn’t go beyond piano and forte, romantic music has a much larger range
• more frequent changes and less predictable than music in earlier

Tempo:

• range of tempos increased
• more expressive descriptions

Melodies:

• longer melodies
• highly emotional
• expression of feeling, either intense and strong, others wistful, dreamy, or deeply sad

Harmony:

• expressive device
• modulation (movement among keys) is more frequent
• chromatic melodies and harmonies became much more frequent
• key ended in a different key in which they had begun

Form:

• less structure
• phrases tend to flow into each other rather than being separate

romantic differences from classical:

program music: tells some kind of story absolute music: no meaning outside the meaning of the music itself

• opera and symphony were the most extensive genres
• voice was the central component of two Romantic genres song and the Requiem Mass
• concerto was a favoured orchestral genre
• chamber music was also popular in the nineteenth century

instruments:

• favourite instruments were the piano and the violin
• piano has intimacy and great drama, the violin has a wide range and potential for lyricism
• cello and the french horn wer able to express rich tenor range
• special effects, composers turned to the English horn (tenor oboe) for a reedy, evocative sound

romantic era:

• romantic songs may be either strophic or through-composed
• strophic songs are those that use the same music for each stanza
• through-composed songs are songs with music different in each stanza
• group of songs is called a song cycle

composers:

• Beethoven- franz schubert
• hector berlioz
• felix mendelssohn
• fryderyk chopin
• robert schumann
• clara schumann
• fanny mendelssohn hensel

virtuosi: talented person in arts

• schubert is different from beethoven, and met once
• beethoven was proud assertive, schubert was gentle, relaxed and lyrical

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto #2

• flows with piano

MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition

• feeling rushed
• pictures come alive
• timpani used like signals
• careful movement is alluded to

TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture:

• regal beginning
• goes through the play of romeo and Juliet

An increased interest in program music.

An increased interest in national musics (folk song, dance, etc.). Not a contradiction - composers focussed on individual heritage, not a pan-European style (i.e., Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell, etc., wrote in essentially the same idiom). Exs. Tchaikovsky: PLAY 1812

Also an increased interest in exoticism: is a genre in which the rhythms, melodies, or instrumentation are designed to evoke the atmosphere of far-off lands or ancient times

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship

• exotic
• violin
• sullen, but still prideful

DVORaK- New World

• exotic
• quieter and has more small sounds

Opera

In Romantic era:

opera (more “real” people and plots, comic “opera buffa” – inversion, lower classes get the upper hand)

Beethoven only wrote one opera - Fidelio

Virtuosity: Opera becomes show business. Star system, individual singers: Caruso, Jenny Lind (the “Swedish Nightingale”), right up to the three tenors (Pavarotti, Domingo, the other guy Carreras), Stratas, Joan Sutherland, Te Kenewa.

“Divas and prima donnas” Vocal types: colouratura, mezzo soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass Stereotypical roles: heroine - soprano, hero - tenor, alto - friend or “wicked stepmother,” baritone, friend or villain, bass - villain “Giantism” - huge orchestras, casts of thousands - see “Aida”

“bel canto” style (Italian) = “beautiful singing” Bellini, “Norma,” Donizetti, “Lucia”

PUCCINI: La bohème from Che gelida manina:

• singing
• music accompaniment in the back
• french

PUCCINI: Turandot - Act III Scene 1: Nessun dorma:

• singing
• harp in the back

Nationalism - Operas on national themes with national styles (Russian (“Boris”), Italian (Verdi, “Rigoletto”)

Exoticism - Verdi, “Aida,” Puccini, “Madame Butterfly,” “Girl of the Golden West,” Bizet’s “Carmen,”

Puccini, Madame Butterfly:

• singing
• female
• opera of a young japanese girl and the american navy lieutenant that leaves her pregnant

Above all, 19th C. opera is about melody.

Nationalism

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) (Yudkin 178-82)

Operas: Rienzi, Tannhauser, Flying Dutchman, Tristan and Isolde, Parsifal, Die Meistersinger, Lohengrin, “The Ring” - Das Rhinegold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, Gotterdammerung

born in Leipzig (Bach connection) virtually self-taught in music, therefore not afraid to try “wrong” approaches. pivotal figure (like Beethoven)–> bridge from Romanticism to most of the “isms” of the 20th C. –> “expressionism,” “modernism,” “impressionism,”. . . mostly known for operas and writings. . . no symphonies, little chamber music has a difficult place in music history.

Comparison with Jean-Luc Goddard W was a vicious anti-Semite Until quite recently, was not played in Israel. Hitler’s favourite composer (though a little unfair since W died long before the rise of National Socialism). Hitler’s favourite because of W’s subject matter. DISCUSS: can we love the art but despise the artist (ex.: Miles Davis)?

W provided Germany with a mythological past. Germany was created in the 19th C. . . united principalities of Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony and others. W took as his subject matter not German history but German/Northern European mythology. Deep well of myth and legend that runs from Scandinavian sagas and mythology through Beowulf and King Arthur. . . exactly the same well that Tolkien drew from in LOTR. W’s “Ring” (Rhinegold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, Gotterdamerung) bears many similarities to LOTR - a magic ring of power is forged in secret, mighty warriors, a last battle, the supernatural, a “sword that was broken” that is reforged. . . Also to “Sleeping Beauty,” and other north European fairy tales.

W’s operas differ in many ways from the Italian grand opera tradition “music drama” - continuous - no set pieces, huge orchestra

Wagner Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin (Act III):

• here comes the bride
• merry and choir singing

pg. 194-195

2) More are familiar with the following: PLAY (Act III – Vorspiel under “Elgar” as composer) “Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walkure

• nationalistic, Wagner

wagner tristan:

• mysterious

Romantic (non-opera) Music Continued Strophic Through composed song cycles - groups of songs on a related theme

Franz Schubert (bio pp.), songs, 9 symphonies (including 8 - “Unfinished”), ch. music.

PLAY “Die Forelle” (text: Schubart) - (pp. 157-8)

• cyclical
• male singing voice with piano in the back

“Interiority” Program music: Nationalism/Exoticism

Chopin Romantic characteristics: Dreamy, rubato. Titles like “Impromptu,” “Nocturne,” PLAY Chopin, Prelude in E Minor (pp.165)

• sole piano
• sadness

Innigkeit – dictionary def. = “poignant intimacy of feeling” One of those useful German words for which there is no exact English equivalent. (Zeitgeist etc)

Romantic artist as tortured soul (continued) Schumann, Berlioz,Tchaikovsky

PLAY/discuss Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Dreaming (Traumerei) (pp. 167)

• wistful
• sole piano
• melancholy

Madness and creativity – possible bipolar disorder? Suicide attempt (1854), institutionalized, dead at 46.

PLAY C. Schumann Andante from Piano Trio Op. 17

• Trio
• calm and peaceful
• picks up in a part with a fast moving melody

Absolute Music Brahms (1833-97), the 3rd “B” 4 symphonies, 4 concertos, a lot of piano music, much chamber music, some choral and vocal music. we all know at least one piece of Brahms - “Wiegenlied” “(Lullaby)” a “romantic” personal life (see pp. 185 for complete bio) studied w/ Schumann Schumann had a nervous collapse - B fell in love w/ Schumann’s wife, Clara (a fine composer and performer in her own right). B was torn by this situation. S died but B did not set up housekeeping w/ C. Though his personal life was “romantic” his music was controlled in a way that Tchaikovsky’s, for example, was not.

only 4 symphonies. Didn’t write a symphony until after 40. In the shadow of Beethoven (“clomping of giants”) PLAY Brahms, “Symph. #4, mvmt 4. (pp. 187)

• traditional romantic
• originality in the pieces with little repetition

Post-Romanticism Influence of Wagner

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) conductor/composer symphonies, Songs of the Earth PLAY Symphony #2: Urlicht (pp. 193)

• mysterious middle

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Tone Poems: Ein Heldenlieben, Death and Transfiguration, Also Sprach Zarathustra (PLAY ), Til Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote. . .

Operas: Electra, Salome, Der Rosenkavalier

extreme situations, chromatic harmony, precursor to expressionism

The XX Century

New Directions: the 20th Century Overview 65 years: from first powered flight to moon landing. Violent 1st half. . . 2 world wars ( 40 & 30 million dead respectively), Russian revolution Technology/science explosion More “isms” in 20th C than rest of music history combined.

Impressionism Two big names: Debussy and Ravel In visual art, impressionism was a (mostly French) reaction against “representation,” Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir characterized by “blurriness,” scenes of middle class and urban life (Monet: pg. 201)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918), piano music, orchestra music (but no symphonies). . . never liked the term “impressionism” Paris Exposition of 1889

technical questions (demonstrate)

2 important developments: freer harmony and freer rhythm. think of the “solid blocks” of functional harmony and form as equivalent to perspective in visual art. emancipation of the dissonance - demonstrate, 9th, 11th, 13th chords, whole tone scale

D - art should be “sensuous” - pleasure

Importance of dance: 3 “scandalous” pieces: Prelude the A of an F, Bolero, Rite of Spring

PLAY “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” (1894) discuss opening phrase - the beginning of a new music, chromatic, ambiguous rhythm, sensuous.

• opening is movie-like
• opens up slowly

Primitivism, Stravinsky and the Birth of Modern Music Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Russian, student of Rimsky-Korsakov 3 ballets (note non-absolute music), “Firebird” (1910 ), “Petrushka” (1911), “The Rite of Spring” (1913)

PLAY “Firebird” ( (Kaschei), (conclusion))

PLAY “Petrushka” – Tableau I “The Shrovetide Fair”

Week 11

WWI was the end of one era and the beginning of another one. OLD world –> European imperial power. NEW world –> World politics. WWI also created the conditions that led to most of the “isms” of the 20th C. Technology radically altered the conditions of music “consumption” – radio, recording, etc.

Couldn’t make art in the same old way - all post 1900 music can be seen in this light. beginning of the “great split” between “art” or “classical” music and the general public. Art music became introspective, hermetic, inward looking. Babbitt - “Who Cares If You Listen?” article.

Tonality Rejected Review Tonality Wagner –> extreme chromaticism, “unsettled” music depicting extremes of emotion.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) “Second Viennese School” with students Berg and Webern trained in the conventional style of German tradition served in WWI though over 40. wrote nothing for 8 yrs (1915-23) left for the US in 1933 with rise to power of Hitler. amateur painter was pushing the boundaries of tonality even prior to WWI.

PLAY “Madonna” from Pierrot Lunaire (1912) pg.208 atonal (define) “sprechstimme” (define - extension of recitative)

atonal and 12-tone music are not the same thing although it is difficult to hear the difference.

atonal music simply avoids any sense of key in an ad hoc, non-systematic way.

Alban Berg (1885-1975) atonal expressionist operas: Wozzeck, Lulu (based on the play, “Pandora’s Box” by Wedekind, also made into one of the great silent films. . . without any music by Berg) extreme “downers.” Wozzeck is a not-too-bright soldier whose wife is unfaithful to him with his commanding officer. . . Everyone dies (except W’s little son), “the horror”) extreme emotional states, murder, lust, corruption

12-tone is a system of composition that replaces the systems and rules of functional harmony.

tone row - chosen to avoid any sense of key all the procedures of counterpoint are available: inversion, retrograde, diminution, augmentation, retro-inv., transposition, rotation, etc..

in 12-tone composition, dynamics, orchestration, phrasing, rhythm are all still freely determined by the composer.

PLAY Schoenberg “Theme and Sixth Variation from Variations for Orchestra, Op.31” (pp.209) DEMONSTRATE row.

Serialism

In serial composition, the initial choice of materials (the row) controls all aspects of the composition.

The 2nd Viennese School is the origin of this very important stream in “art” music since 1900 –> Babbitt, Xenakis, etc., all art movements contain the seeds of their own demise.

play Webern Mvt 3 from Five Movements for String Quartet (1909) (p. 214)

• random sounding

Tonality Extended

I see three possible reasons for continuing to work in a tonal idiom:

1) Conservatism Many composers simply still think the old way of doing things is the better way and don’t think that tonality is “mined out.” Vaughan-Williams, Holst (PLAY Mars Planets ), Hindemith to some extent.

2) Populism/Nationalism Many composers choose to write accessible music to stay connected with a larger audience:

In the US, Aaron Copland consciously chose to write for a mass audience. Embraced film score writing (won an Oscar). Ballets on American subjects; cowboys, farmers, etc.. Very “American,” democratic idea. . . to write accessible music without compromising artistic integrity. PLAY “Fanfare for the Common Man” (pp.220) PLAY “Hoedown” from Rodeo

3) Compulsion

Artistic repression in Nazi Germany – “decadent,” “Jewish,” “Negroid” (i.e. jazz) music brutally suppressed. Schoenberg left Germany for America.

Many composers in eastern bloc countries were forced to conform to “proper socialist principles” and write in a traditional style or face prison or death. Ideology of “Socialist Realism” Shostakovich: many symphonies chock full of irony and double meanings that went right over the censors’ heads.

John Cage

PLAY Music of Changes I ()

I Ching, prepared piano, Constructions in Metal, “noise”

PLAY Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (page 245)

4’33”

PLAY Varese, Ionisation

musique concrete, additive rhythm, Poem Electronique. (1958 Brussels Philips Pavilion, Le Corbusier), modernism, the International Style

Klangfarbenmelodie – “tone colour” melody

PLAY Crumb “Music for a Summer Evening” . Notation example pp.256.

Minimalism and return to tonality and rhythm (Mondrian image)

Demo Clapping Music, Piano Phase iPhone/iPad Clapping Music app

PLAY Reich “Nagoya Marimbas”

• marimba

PLAY Reich “Eight Lines”

New instruments - demise of the orchestra?

New Technologies

PLAY Paul Lansky: “Notjustmoreidlechatter” (Princeton)

• synth

Section 1 consists of 10 brief recorded examples. Each example will be played four times. You will be asked to answer four questions about each example. The examples are from the Naxos Music 100 playlist and at least one question per example will concern identification (piece, composer, etc.). You will have heard all these examples in class.

Section 2 consists of forty multiple choice questions, each worth one mark. These questions will concern the following subject areas: theme, theme and variations, rubato, Apollo, Dionysus, Enlightenment, lieder, strophic song, through composed, requiem, absolute music, exoticism, diva, prima donna, grand opera, bel canto, libretto, overture, ensemble, chorus, expressionism, impressionism, Bayreuth, Ring Cycle, music drama, leitmotif, chromaticism, tone poem, post-romantic, polytonality, polyrhythm, primitivism, populism, additive rhythm, atonality, serialism, 12-tone technique, tone row, expressionism, Second Viennese School, sprechstimme, aleatoric music, minimalism, musique concrete, prepared piano, klangfarbenmelodie.

Section 3 consists of two “essay-type” questions (10 marks each) concerning any of the material we have studied. There will be at least five questions in total from which you may choose any two.

theme: A line in the music
theme and variations: it is the same theme, but varied every time.
rubato: “robbed”, melody slows down as the player keeps the tempo going in the accompaniment
Apollo: God of music
Dionysus: God of wine
englightenment: Led by Voltaire, tried to apply scientific objectivity to social justice. Human over the divine, reason over religion. Tried to improve education, eliminate prejudice, and get rid of class structure.
lieder: a type of German song, especially of the Romantic period, typically for solo voice with piano accompaniment.
strophic song: same music for each stanza of the poetry
through composed: music is different for each stanza
requiem: a Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead.
absolute music: music has no meaning outside the meaning of the music itself and the feelings it producers in its listeners
exoticism: genre in which the rhythms, melodies, or instrumentation are designed to evoke the atmosphere of far-off lands or ancient times
diva: celebrated female singer; a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera
prima donna: a principal female singer in an opera or concert organization
grand opera: lofty subjects, grand productions
bel canto: style (Italian) = “beautiful singing” Bellini, “Norma,” Donizetti, “Lucia”
libretto: text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical.
overture: an instrumental introduction in three short movements, fast-slow-fast
ensemble: group of musicians, dancers, or actors who perform together
chorus: a large organized group of singers, especially one that performs together with an orchestra or opera company.
expressionism: Focus on inner states of being and the evocation of extreme feelings
impressionism: symbolism that attempted to convey ideas rather than by direct statements
Bayreuth: Festival founded by Wagner. Very hard to get tickets, may take ten years.
Ring Cycle: is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner
Music Drama: Music and words interwoven in retelling old myths which would carry profound human truth. Founded by Wagner who used it anti-Semitically.
leitmotif: a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.
chromaticism: a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale.
tone poem: a piece of orchestral music, typically in one movement, on a descriptive or rhapsodic theme.
post-romantic: range of cultural endeavors and attitudes emerging in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, after the period of Romanticism
polytonality: Simultaneous sounding of two or more keys at once
polyrhythm: different meters sounding at the same time
primitivism: Directness, instinctiveness, and exoticism of nonurban cultures.
populism: belief in the power of regular people, and in their right to have control over their government rather than a small group of political insiders or a wealthy elite
additive rhythm: larger period of time is divided into smaller rhythmic units
atonality: An attempt to “liberate” music from the traditional rules of composition
serialism: In serial composition, the initial choice of materials (the row) controls all aspects of the composition.
12-tone technique: Use all the available notes, instead of just some, and used in a strict order and must be followed. Is a system of composition that replaces the systems and rules of functional harmony.
tone row: a particular sequence of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale used as a basis for twelve-tone (serial) music.
Second Viennese School: is the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils and close associates in early 20th century Vienna
sprechstimme: Singer approximates the written pitches, in an eerie effect that merges singing with speaking
aleatorics: is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work’s realization is left to the determination of its performer
minimalism: idea of harmonic simplicity and repetitive rhythm. Limited materials and remains almost constant tempo and dynamic.
musique concrete: music constructed by mixing recorded sounds, first developed by experimental composers in the 1940s.
prepared piano: piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings
klangfarbenmelodie: is a musical technique that involves splitting a musical line or melody between several instruments, rather than assigning it to just one instrument (or set of instruments), thereby adding color (timbre) and texture to the melodic line.

Composers Contributions:

Classical:

Beethoven:

• piano prodigy
• Combines classical interest in abstract form and development with powerful emotion and individual style

Romantic:

Wagner:

• self-taught
• nationalist
• bridge from Romanticism to most of the “isms” of the 20th C. –> “expressionism,” “modernism,” “impressionism,”

Robert Schumann:

• literary Romantic
• piano writing is mastery

Brahms:

• third b
• romantic but classic and baroque at times
• Schumann had a nervous collapse
• B fell in love w/ Schumann’s wife, Clara (a fine composer and performer in her own right). B was torn by this situation.
• conservative

Mahler:

• last great Romantic composer
• whole world nature
• orchestral song cycles

Strauss

Modern Era:

Debussy:

• French
• known for Indonesian Gamelan (small group playing metal instruments)

Ravel:

Stravinsky:

• use of polyrhythms, bitonality, and ostinato
• syncopation

Schoenberg:

• new approach to harmony
• founded the twelve-tone system
• students were Alban Berg and Anton Webern
• liberated music from the tonal system

Alban Berg:

• more passionate and emotionally intense than other School of Viennese