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Viennese Classicists
Haydyn, Mozart, Beethoven
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Characteristics of the Classical Style:
texture, mood, dynamics, rhythm, melody, instruments
- texture: smooth shifts from one texture to another, primarily homophonic, when polyphony was used it was much less dense than in Baroque
- mood: there was a lot of contrast w/in a single movement, themes in different moods
- dynanamics: widespread use of crescendo and decrescendo as well as the sforzando
- rhythm: many patterns, same unexpected pauses/syncopation
- melody: simpler than Baroque, symmetrical, even phrases
- instruments: end of the basso continuo, too complicated for "natural man", it was thought that if music had to be heard more than once it could not truly be appreciated
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Emphasis on Balance
- clarity of structure
- ex: excerpt from Amadeus: Emperor Joseph II said there were "too many notes"
- premeire of Mozart's opera-abduction of Seraglio, it was a singpsiel ("song-play")
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Vocal Music: Mozart's Opera: Don Giovanni
- Italian dark comic opera
- Don Giovanni: baritone, Leporello: bass-baritone, Donna Elvira: soprano, Zerlina: soprano
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Secco Recitative
- it is a dry recitative because it is only accompanied by a harpsichord, not a whole orchestra so it has a dry sound
- was heard in Don Giovanni
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Patter Singing
- singing words quickly so it sounds like comical talking
- wide lepas in vocal line (also comical)
- was used in Don Giovanni in Leporello's "Catalogue Aria"
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4 Movement Format
- I. fast tempo: sonata form
- II. slow tempo: theme and variations form, aria-like
- III. dance like tempo (moderate): minuet and trio form
- IV. fast tempo: rondo form
- (ex: Beethoven's String Quartet)
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1st Movement
- Sonata Form: fast
- 1. exposition: 1st theme in tonic key; bridge to new key; 2nd theme in new key (the dominant or V if tonic (I) is a major key); closing theme
- 2. development: new treatments of previously heard themes (often broken up into motives); modulations to various keys
- 3. recapitulation: 1st theme in tonic key; bridge (but now in tonic key); 2nd theme in tonic key; closing section [coda] in tonic key
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2nd Movement
- theme and varians form: slow
- ex: Haydyn's Symphony #94: "Surprise"
- these are "decorative variations"
- II. Andante: AA'A''A'''...etc
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3rd Movement
- minuet and trio form: dance-like
- similar to later movements termed "scherzo": keeps same design
- A (a:||ba':||) B (c:||dc'||) A' (aba')
- ex: Mozart: Einekleine Nachtmusik: serenade (III. Minuet)
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4th Movement
- rondo form: fast
- ABA'CA''B'A' [coda]
- this design is called the "short rondo"
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Franz Joseph Haydyn (1723-1809)
- born in rohraw, Austria: very rural, listened to rustic and fold music
- went to Vienna as a choirboy after his soprano voice changed
- Esterhazy Family: royal family of Hungary, they were looking for new composer and hired him to work there for the rest of his life
- Esterhaza: a house built on the property of their palace, it was where he played
- baryton: an instrument that Haydyn played at the Esterhaza; it was a string instrument w/ a second set of strings that you don't pluck but they just vibrate with the music
- he composed 104 symphonies
- he has 12 "London Symphonies" and they were the last he composed
- Trumpet Concerto in E flat Major (most played); "sonata rondo form"; it was written for his friend who had a trumpet which was new at the time
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- born in Salzburg, Austria
- child prodigy: at 2 started playing back things on piano by ear; at 5 composed a minuet; composed symphonies around 6/7/8, wrote his first opera around 11/12 and toured Europe
- went to Vienna at 25 and married Constanza and lived there forever
- family was not happy because they wanted him to stay single so he could support them
- excels at opera and piano concertos but creates masterpieces in all major genres
- operas: Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflue (the magic flute), a German singspiel
- cadenza: solo section for a solo performer in a concerto
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Ludwig Van Beethoven
- born in Bonn, Germany
- went to Vienna when he was 16 to meet Mozart but had to go back to Bonn
- went back to Vienna permanently in 1729 right after Mozart died
- then studied with Haydyn, reluctantly
- Piano Sonata in c minor, Op. 13 "Pathetique" 1798 (means deeply felt)
- sonata: (as a genre): an instrumental piece that is either a multi-movement piece for a solo piano or a solo instrument plus a piano
- 9 symphonies: Symphony #5 in c minor, Op. 67, 1808, wrote it when he knew he was going deaf, Allegro con brio, scherzo: very fast
- deafness and conversation booklets: people would write down their questions/responses in a booklet and he would say his response
- Symphony #9: "choral" 1824; 4th movement uses chorus and soloists + orchestra; "Ode to Joy" theme; double fuge; film "Immortal Beloved" excerpt w/ music from this movement...film was about how he had an affair and a child w/ his sister-in-law (not true)
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