Study Guide for Exam 3 - Music Appreciation | MUS 1751, Study notes of Music

Download Study Guide for Exam 3 - Music Appreciation | MUS 1751 and more Study notes Music in PDF only on Docsity! Material for Exam 3 11/4 The Romantic Period Romantic Forms Monumental and Miniature The monumental forms Expanded sonata allegro Expanded orchestra Longer works Symphony Opera Miniature forms Shorts with whimsical titles (like arabesque or romance, to name a couple) Often simple binary or ternary forms Famous composers of the Romantic include: Hector Berlioz Felix Mendelssohn Frederick Chopin Robert Schumann Franz Liszt Guiseppe Verdi Richard Wagner Franz Schubert These were unconventional people the personified the Romantic spirit Self-expression Passion Excess Love of nature Literature Irresponsibility Even a bit of lunacy Life, and how they lived it, also became an art. The romantics became very interested in literature and in having their music express some sort of literary content. There was a great output of poetry and that poetry lent itself well to writing songs. This popularized a genre called the Art Song, a song for solo voice and piano accompaniment. Art song was most popular in Germanic countries, which is why these songs are often referred to as lied or the plural lieder. A young Viennese man who was most famous for his lieder was Franz Schubert. (1797-1828) In his short life span Schubert wrote more than 600 lieder. He also wrote 8 symphonies, 15 string quartets, 21 piano sonatas, seven masses and sour operas. This is a huge output for someone who lived to be only 31 when he died. (He died just one year after Beethoven.) Schubert lived the life of a “free artist” He was often broke but spent his mornings composing, his afternoons in the cafes and his evenings were often spent at the hoes of friend performing hi music. These evenings became very known as Schubertiads. A famous Art Song by Schubert. Erlking (1815) Based on a narrative verse by Goethe. Tells the story of the king of the Elves and his malevolent seduction of a young boy. The legend said that whoever was touched by the King of the Elves would die. This exemplifies the Romantic fascination with the supernatural and the macabre. The song requires the singer to use four different tones voice to represent four different characters A narrator The father The boy The Erlking The piano gets to be the galloping horse. The interest in the use of literature in music took more than one turn. The art song is the most obvious… Another type of literary inspired music is program music Program music is instrumental music that is meant to tell a story using musical sound. The story can be from a play or a legend or a poem or even something made up by the composer. The program symphony is when a program or story line is associated with each movement of a symphony. A program symphony can have more flexible number of movements than the traditional symphony. One of the most extreme examples of Romanticism can be found in a program symphony by Hector Berlioz called Symphonie fantastique (1830) *Listen to transcendental etude No. 8 “Wild Hunt” Liszt also perfected a style of playing that sounded like the performed was more than with 2 hands. 11/11 Listen to “un sospiro” Music and Nationalism Due to several ethnic groups seeking to free themselves from the rule of foreign countries, a great deal of Europe started to take National pride in their individual countries heritage. Music ends up being influenced by these politics. Already we have seen some examples this Musical Nationalism. A flood of national anthems, native dances, protest songs and victory symphonies ensued. This is when we get music like our own National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. Folksongs Native Scales Dance rhythms Local instrumental sounds National subject matter Examples of Nationalistic Titles. Hungarian Rhapsodies- Liszt Russian Easter Overture- Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov Slavonic Dances (Anton Dvorak) Finlandia (Jean Sibelius) Russian Nationalism Russia establishes itself as a major voice in music during this times, separating itself from the traditions of Germany and Italy. Started with the music of Mikail Glinka in his opera “The life of a Tsar” The Russain Five Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) Cesar Cui (1835-1918) Mily Balakirev (1837-1918) Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov (1844-1908) Modest Musorgsky (1839-1881) Dedicated themselves to writing Russian Music Pictures at an Exhibition is based on the work of a close friend on Musorgsky’s, the Russian painter and architect victor Hartmann. When Hartmann died they did a memorial exhibition of his works and Musorgsky wrote this music describing that exhibition. To get that Russian sound he uses a pentatonic scale (pg 311) Listen to Pictures at an Exhibition Originally written for piano. Orchestrated by Ravel. Excerpts (Great Gate of Kiev required listening) The Czech Republic has had a very rocky past with many different countries holding power over the thnic groups. The modern Czech Republic has several ethnic influences small groups Bohemia Moravia Slovakia It is a mixture of German and Slav heritage that make up the modern Czech Republic. Dvorak spent the first part of his career in relative obscurity working in Prague as a freelance musician. Played violin and organ, in dance bands and in opera orchestras. Composed tirelessly. Most of It went unheard. He then came to the attention of another composer Johannes Brahms. Brahms encourages a published to publish some of Dvorak’s work. A set of eight piano pieces called “Slavonic Dances” These became popular and Dvorak’s name spread across Europe. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) The Three “B” of Music Bach, Beethoven, Brahms Composer of Absolute Music in the Classical tradition. Considered by many to the Heir of Beethoven. Born in Hamburg. Given a strong Musical training by his father in piano and music theory. He studied the great masters of his own and worked playing in bars. Practiced in the piano showrooms of local music stores. Became famous with the Help of two other famous Romantic Musicians. Robert and Clara Schumann. They became his mentors and Brahms became part of their life, helping Clara after Robert was confined to a mental institution. 11/13 Brahms wrote Absolute Music he followed very carefully and respectfully in the way of Beethoven but still continued to develop his style in the Romantic vein. Listen to Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D major. 3rd movement. Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Born to an upper middle class family. Even though he had a good ear for music he went to law school and became a clerk for the ministry of justice. But music called and he went back to school at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Then he assumed a professor at the Moscow conservatory. Tchaikovsky’s music is extremely famous and popular. He wrote in the classical genres as well as in the programmatic romantic genres. He is very famous for his ballet such as “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker.” He also write in important operas. Listen to Romeo and Juliet. Feud Theme 1st theme in exposition Love them 2nd theme 19th century called the Golden Age of Opera. Opera engaged people of this time period much the same as we are today engaged by the cinema. Romantic Opera has three categories: Italian bel Canto (Verdi) German music dramas (Wagner) Realistic Opera (Bizet, Puccini) Ben canto means beautiful singing. In Opera of this style the energy is focused on creating melodies for the solo voice. The orchestra usually just provides harmonic support. Because of this importance placed on the solo voice the lyric soprano becomes the most important person to the art form.. hence the name for the soprano such as prima donna (first lady) or diva (goddess) Giuseppe Verdi (Joe Green) (1813-1901) Son of a tavern keeper.. not a prodigy, could not play well and was rejected from the conservatory. Stayed in Milan and found a way to study composition. First opera Oberto (1839) was produced at the famous La Scala Opera House in Milan. His opera form the core of the Opera houses repertoire today and include Rigoletto, La Traviata, Il trovore, Aida, Otello, Falstaff. Verdi became very wealthy and lived and worked until a happy old age. Verdi said “There is one thing the public will not tolerate in the theatre: Boredum.” His opera’s are packed with non stop action and intense passion. Created with Verdi’s introduction of Recitativeo Accompagnato (Recitative with full orchestra accompaniment) Arias have beautiful melodies but push the singer to the outer reaches of his or her range. When the hero (or tenor) or the heroine (the soprano) sing their highest notes, these are literally the high points of the Opera. La Traviata (The woman gone astray) Violetta, a courtesan, resists and then succumbs to a young lover of good social standing. She then disappears so as not to bring disgrace to his family. He tracks her down insults her and fights a duel with her new man. So he is banished from France. Later on he figures out what happens and rushes to her side. He is too late, she is dying of TB and sings one last aria before dying. Let us listen to when Violetta meets Alfredo, her new love, and rejects him. Act 1 scene 4. Now the famous aria or cabaletta, a fast concluding aria from Act 1. 11/18 German opera and Wagner So far the only opera out of Germany has been the comic singspiel that was appropriated by Mozart. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) created a new national voice for german opera. Wagner Composer Philosopher Politician Propagandist