Music History 4

French dance in 3/4 time for two people

Lully introduced into opera in 1600's, intro in late 1600's into the suite (ex. Bach Cello Suites)

Usually in binary form, but second part was expanded to a sort of ternary form

Later developments saw two minuets together with first one being played again after the second to create ternary form. The second featured some type of contrast (different key or Orchestration) and around Lully's time, the middle minuet was often scored for 3 instruments Like 2 oboes and bassoon, so often called a trio, even when not written for 3 instruments.

rounded binary or minuet form (ABA)

minuet and trio eventually became the standard third movement in the four-movement classical symphony, Johann Stamitz being the first to employ it thus with regularity.

livelier form of the minuet later developed into the scherzo with Beethoven (but can be traced back to Haydn)

standard form used commonly since the classical period, often for first movments of sonatas, symphonies and string quartets

consists of exposition, dev. and recapitualtion (may also include and introduction and coda)

use by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven (esp. in piano sonatas)

other forms: Sonata-rondo

"Storm and Stress"

1760's-1780's movement in German literature and music

extremes of emotion given free expression over pervading rationalism of the enlightenment

ex: Haydn Symphony No. 45 "Farewell" and 44 Trauer "Mourning", Mozart Symphony No. 25 in g minor

early version of the piano invented around 1700 by Cristofori

inst. that Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven wrote their piano music for

has leather covered hammers and harpsichord-like strings, lighter touch and originally about 4 octaves

sound of modern piano is more uniform throughout range

In the early 18th century, comic operas often appeared as short, one-act interludes known as intermezzi that were performed in between acts of opera seria. These gave way to the full-fledged comic opera later in the 18th century. La serva padrona by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736), is the one intermezzo still performed with any regularity today, and provides an excellent example of the style.

type of Italian comic opera popular in early 1700's dev. parallel to opera seria

char. by local dialects, everyday settings and simple vocal writing

In the early 18th century, comic operas often appeared as short, one-act interludes known as intermezzi that were performed in between acts of opera seria. These gave way to the full-fledged comic opera later in the 18th century. La serva padrona by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736), is the one intermezzo still performed with any regularity today, and provides an excellent example of the style.Pergolesi, La serva Padrona

ex: Barber of Seville (Rossini) and Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)

mass for the dead, originally associated with the propers of the requiem mass, but later apllied to other compositions associated with death and mourning


ex: Requiems of Mozart, Verdi and Fauré.

• Originally, such compositions were meant to be performed in liturgical service, with monophonic chant. Eventually the dramatic character of the text began to appeal to composers to an extent that they made the
• requiem a genre of its own, and the requiems of composers such as Verdi are essentially concert pieces rather than liturgical works.

1815-1910 period of western art music

expansion of formal structures within a piece of music to make it more passionate and expressive, struggled to increase emotional expression and power

increased chromaticism and dissonance, exploration of uses of d7 chords and others expand harmonic language

• Greater sense of ambiguity: especially in tonality or harmonic function, but also in rhythm or meter.
• Closer links with other arts = programme music (programme symphony, symphonic poem, concert overture).
• Shape and unity brought to lengthy works by use of recurring themes (sometimes transformed/developed): idée fixe (Berlioz), thematic transformations (Liszt), Leitmotif (Wagner), motto theme.Greater technical virtuosity – especially from pianists, violinists and flautists.
• Nationalism

"a style (as in architecture) characterized by the use of traditional forms and elements.

contrast to modernism, "a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression"

practice of borrowing clearly identifiable preexisting musical materials

ex: JS Bach in Chorale preludes, aslo minimalism of Glass since it uses tonality

• refers to the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and
• melodies, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them. Musical nationalism can also include the use of folklore as a basis for programmatic works including opera (primarily in Romantic era)

1850's into 20th C

ex: Russian Five (were Mily Balakirev (1836-1910), the leader of the group, César Cui (1835-1918), Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), and Alexander Borodin (1833-1887). Others: Smetana (Czech), Dvorak (Czech),Janacek, Grieg (Norway), Sibelius (Finland), Vaughan Williams (England) and Copland (US)

intended to invoke a specific narrative, thought or idea

idea began with Beethoven Symphony No. 6 and developed through Bizet Symphonie Fantastique and Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

emerged out of the opera overture in the late 18thC

Stand alone- not based on any opera emerged in 1800's

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826) by Felix Mendelssohn is generally regarded as the first concert overture

later supplanted by the symphonic poem

piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata.

replaced minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or string quartet.

Scherzo also frequently refers to a fast-moving humorous composition which may or may not be part of a larger work.[2] The word "scherzo" means "joke" in Italian. Sometimes the word scherzando (joking) is used in musical notation to indicate that a passage should be executed in a playful manner.

traditionally retains the triple meter time signature and ternary form of the minuet, but is considerably quicker. It is often, but not always, of a light-hearted nature.

Beethoven and Schubert first to use the form widely

(Day of Wrath) is a famous thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano

was a sequence in the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass

used in Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique

a German word meaning "song"; among English speakers, however, the word is used primarily as a term for European romantic songs, also known as art songs. The term is usually used to describe songs composed to a German poem of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf. The poetry forming the basis for Lieder often centers upon pastoral themes, or themes of romantic love. Typically, Lieder are arranged for a single singer and piano. Some of the most famous examples of Lieder are Schubert's Der Tod und Das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden) and Gretchen am Spinnrade. Sometimes Lieder are gathered in a Liederkreis or "song cycle"—a series of songs (generally three or more) tied by a single narrative or theme, such as Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben or Schumann's Dichterliebe. The composers Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann are most closely associated with this genre of romantic music.

group of songs designed to be performed in sequence as a single entity

The first generally accepted example of a song cycle is Ludwig van Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte (1816).

The genre was firmly established by the cycles of Franz Schubert: his Die schöne Müllerin (1823) and Winterreise (1827), based on poems by Wilhelm Müller, are among his most greatly admired works.

Schubert's Schwanengesang (1828),and Mahler Kindentotenlieder are other examples.

American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface. Blackface branched off from the minstrel show.

often consisted of unrelated verses strung together by a common chorus

Minstrel instruments were also a mélange: African banjo and tambourine with European fiddle and bones[111] In short, early minstrel music and dance was not true black culture; it was a white reaction to it.

Virginia Minstrels' hit "Old Dan Tucker"

type of popular music which, as the name suggests, is intended to be performed in the parlours of middle class homes by amateur singers and pianists. Disseminated as sheet music, its heyday came in the 19th century, as a result of a steady increase in the number of households with enough surplus cash to purchase musical instruments and instruction in music.

ex: transcriptions of arias of Bellini and Donizatti and Stephen Foster Songs

broad term used to describe a variety of 19C piano music based on a single idea or program

commonly expressive or descriptive title

Many 19th century nocturnes and intermezzi are character pieces as well, including those of Chopin and Brahms.

leitmotiv, usually associated with Wagner operas

recurring melody or theme associated with a particular person, place or idea

first appeared in late 1700's French opera (Gretry and others)

gesamtkunstwerk- total art work

German opera composer Richard Wagner first used the term in his 1849 essay "Art and Revolution".

performance that combines all the arts, including the performing arts (for example music, theater, and dance), literature (including poetry), and the visual arts (for example painting, sculpture, and architecture).

ex- Ring des Nibelunges

contains the primary thematic material for the movement presented in one or two theme groups

these themes were often in contrasting styles or keys and bridged with a "transition"

usually ends with a closing theme, a "codetta" or both

arrived at from the development through "retransition)

• 1. first subject group- same key as exposition
• 2.transition- novel material, almost like a secondary dev.
• 3.second subject group- recalls themes of exposition, but now in home key
• 4.codetta- same as in exposition

recap may be follwed by a coda that ends on a perfect cadence in the original tonic

form used in Classical era, esp in finales of multi-movement works

blend of rondo form (ABACADA) and sonata form (AB'exp C"dev ABrecap) to get:

sonata rondo: [A B']exp [A C"]dev [A B]recap

examples in last movments: Beethoven Symphony No. 6, Mozart Piano Sonata No. 23 in AM, Mendellsohn Violin COncert in em, Schubert Death and the Maiden, Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik