Transcript Music: An Appreciation by Roger Kamien

Time Line
Shakespeare: Hamlet
1600
Cervantes: Don Quixote
1605
Jamestown founded
1607
Galileo: Earth orbits Sun
1610
King James Bible
1611
Newton: Principia Mathematica
1687
Witchcraft trials in Salem, Mass.
1692
Defoe: Robinson Crusoe
1719
Swift: Gulliver’s Travels
1726
PART III—THE BAROQUE PERIOD
The Baroque Style
Time of flamboyant lifestyle
Baroque style “fills the space”
Visual Art
– Implies motion
- Note pictures p. 93
– Busy
- Note pictures p. 94
PART III—THE BAROQUE PERIOD
The Baroque Style
Architecture
– Elaborate
- Note picture p. 95
Change in approach to science
– Experiment-based, not just observation
– Inventions and improvements result
PART III—THE BAROQUE PERIOD
Chapter 1: Baroque Music
Period begins with rise of opera
– Opera: a play with speaking parts sung
Period ends with death of J. S. Bach
The two giants: Bach and Handel
Other important composers:
– Claudio Monteverdi
– Arcangelo Corelli
– Henry Purcell
– Antonio Vivaldi
Chapter 1
Period divided into 3 phases:
– Early: 1600-1640
- Rise of opera
- Text with extreme emotion
- Homophonic to project words
Chapter 1
Period divided into 3 phases:
– Early: 1600-1640
– Middle: 1640-1680
- New musical style spreads from Italy throughout Europe
- Use of the church modes gives way to major and minor scales
- Rise of importance of instrumental music
Chapter 1
Period divided into 3 phases:
– Early: 1600-1640
– Middle: 1640-1680
– Late: 1680-1750
- Instrumental music becomes as important as vocal music
- Elaborate polyphony dominates
- Most baroque music we hear comes from the Late Baroque
Chapter 1
Characteristics of Baroque Music
Unity of Mood
– Expresses one mood per piece
Rhythm
– Rhythmic patterns are repeated throughout
Melody
– Opening melody heard again and again
Dynamics
– Volumes constant with abrupt changes
Texture
– Late baroque mostly polyphonic
– Extensive use of imitation
Chapter 1
Chords and the Basso Continuo
– Emphasis on way chords follow each other
- Bass part considered foundation of the harmony
– Basso Continuo: bass part with numbers to represent
chord tones
- Similar to modern jazz and pop “fake book” notation
Words and Music
– Text painting/word painting continues
– Words frequently emphasized by extension through
many rapid notes
Chapter 1
The Baroque Orchestra
Based on violin family of instruments
Small by modern standards
Varying instrumentation
– Combinations of strings, woodwinds, brass, &
percussion (tympani)
Nucleus was basso continuo unit
Composers specified instrumentation
– Timbre was subordinate to melody, rhythm, and
harmony
Chapter 1
Baroque Forms
Instrumental music frequently made up of
contrasting movements
– Movement: a piece complete in itself, also part of a
larger whole
– Performed with pause between movements
– Unity of mood within individual movements
– Movements often contrast with each other
Chapter 1
Chapter 10: Antonio Vivaldi
Late baroque Italian composer
Il prete rosso (the red priest)
Taught music at girls’ orphanage in Venice
– Girls performed at mass hidden behind screen
Wrote sacred and secular vocal and instrumental
music
– Best known for concerti grossi & solo concertos for violin
- Solo concerto: piece for single soloist & orchestra
Famous as a virtuoso violinist & composer
Chapter 10
Listening
La Primavera (Spring), Op. 8, No. 1,
from The Four Seasons (1725)
Antonio Vivaldi
First Movement: Allegro
Listening Outline: p. 126
Brief Set, CD 2:1
Concerto for violin and string orchestra
Performance
Profile: Jeanne
Lamon-violinist/
conductor
Listen for
interpretation of
tempo, rhythm,
and dynamics, use
of decorative
tones, and attempt
to keep a familiar
piece “fresh.”
Note: Polyphonic texture & ritornello form
Baroque program music
Descriptive effects (e.g., bird songs)
Chapter 10
Listening
La Primavera (Spring), Op. 8, No. 1,
from The Four Seasons (1725)
Antonio Vivaldi
Second Movement: Largo e pianissimo
sempre (very slow and very soft throughout)
Listening Guide: pp. 127-129
Brief Set, CD 2:6
Concerto for violin and string orchestra
Performance
Profile: Jeanne
Lamon-violinist/
conductor
Listen for
interpretation of
tempo, rhythm,
and dynamics, use
of decorative
tones, and attempt
to keep a familiar
piece “fresh.”
Note: Orchestra reduced to only violins and violas
Descriptive effects (violas: “dog barking”)
Chapter 10
Listening
La Primavera (Spring), Op. 8, No. 1,
from The Four Seasons (1725)
Antonio Vivaldi
Third Movement: Danza pastorale
(Pastoral Dance)
Listening Guide: p. 129
Brief Set, CD 2:7
Concerto for violin and string orchestra
Performance
Profile: Jeanne
Lamon-violinist/
conductor
Listen for
interpretation of
tempo, rhythm,
and dynamics, use
of decorative
tones, and attempt
to keep a familiar
piece “fresh.”
Note: Ritornello form alternates solo and tutti sections
Descriptive effects (sustained notes in low strings
to imitate bagpipes)
Chapter 10
Time Line
Monroe Doctrine
1823
Hugo: Hunchback of Notre Dame
1831
Dickens: Oliver Twist
1837
Dumas: The Three Musketeers
1844
Poe: The Raven
1845
Darwin: Origin of Species
1859
American Civil War
1861-1865
Twain: Huckleberry Finn
1884
Bell invents telephone
1876
PART V—THE ROMANTIC PERIOD
Romanticism (1820-1900)
Stressed emotion, imagination, and individualism
Emotional subjectivity basis of arts
Favorite artistic topics:
– Fantasy and the supernatural
– Middle Ages/concept of chivalry and romance
- Architecture revived Gothic elements
– Nature as mirror of the human heart
Period of the Industrial Revolution
– Resulted in social and economic changes
PART V—THE ROMANTIC PERIOD
Chapter 1: Romanticism in Music
Many important Romantic composers
Franz Schubert
Bedrich Smetana
Robert Schumann
Antonin Dvořák
Clara Schumann
Peter Tchaikovsky
Frederic Chopin
Johannes Brahms
Franz Liszt
Giuseppe Verdi
Felix Mendelssohn
Giacomo Puccini
Hector Berlioz
Richard Wagner
Chapter 1
Continued use of classical period forms
– Much individual alteration and adjustment
Greater range of tone color, dynamics, and pitch
than in classical period
Expanded harmony—complex chords
Chapter 1
Characteristics of Romantic Music
Individuality of Style
Composers wanted uniquely identifiable music
– Worked to find their own voice
In romantic music, it is far easier to identify
individual composers through listening
Chapter 1
Expressive Aims and Subjects
All approaches were explored:
– Flamboyance, intimacy, unpredictability, melancholy,
rapture, longing, …
Romantic love still the focus of songs and operas
– Lovers frequently depicted as unhappy and facing
overwhelming obstacles
Dark topics draw composers
Chapter 1
Nationalism and Exoticism
Nationalism: music with a national identity
– Uses folk songs, dances, legends, and history of a land
Exoticism: intentionally implies a foreign culture
– Makes use of melodies, rhythms, and instruments
associated with distant lands
– Frequently employed in operas with foreign settings
Chapter 1
Program Music
Association with a story, poem, idea, or scene
– Understanding the music is enhanced through reading
the program or viewing the associated work
– Though common in the romantic, concept had been
employed for centuries previously
- E.g., La Primavera (from the Four Seasons) by Vivaldi
– Many Romantic composers were also authors
– Made possible a “union of the arts”
- Poets wanted their poetry to be musical
- Musicians wanted their music to be poetic
Chapter 1
Expressive Tone Color
Composers tried to create unique sounds
– Blending of existing instruments
– Addition of new instruments
– Never before had timbre been so important
Enlarged orchestra allowed more instrument colors
– Classical 20-60 members vs. Romantic ~100
– Orchestration came to be regarded as an art form
- Berlioz: Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration (1844)
Advances in instrument design allowed more color
– Valved brass instruments could now play melodies
– Piano design improved and range was extended
Chapter 1
Colorful Harmony
Chords built with notes not in traditional keys
– Chromatic harmony
Harmonic instability a consciously used device
– Wide use of keys
– Frequent and rapid modulation
Chapter 1
Expanded Range of Dynamics,
Pitch, and Tempo
Dynamics ff, pp expanded to ffff and pppp
Extremely high and low pitches were added
Changes in mood frequently underlined by
(sometimes subtle) shifts in tempo
– Rubato: slight holding back or pressing forward of tempo
Chapter 1
Forms: Miniature and Monumental
Some composers went on for hours
– Required hundreds of performers
Others’ music lasted only a few minutes
– Written for a single instrument
Composers wrote symphonies, sonatas, string
quartets, concertos, operas, and many other
classically traditional works
Chapter 1
Chapter 10: Program Music
Instrumental music associated with a story,
poem, idea, or scene
– Non-program music is called absolute music
Usually performed with written explanation of
the piece—a program
Chapter 10
In the romantic period, program music was usually
for piano or orchestra
Common types:
– Program symphony: multi-movement/orchestral
– Concert overture\: modeled on opera overture
– Symphonic poem (or tone poem): one movement,
orchestral, flexible form
– Incidental music: for use before or during a play
Chapter 10
Chapter 12: Nationalism in
Nineteenth-Century Music
National identity grew during the romantic period
– Citizens, not mercenaries, now fought wars
– Bonds of language, history, and culture formed
- Led to unifications creating Germany and Italy
Composers deliberately gave their works distinctive
national identity
– Use of folksongs and folkdances
– Created original melodies with folk flavor
– Wrote operas and program music inspired by native
history, legends, and landscapes
Strongest impact in countries dominated by music of
Germany, Austria, Italy and France
Chapter 12
Listening
The Moldau (1874)
Part of the cycle Ma Vlast (My Country)
Bedrich Smetana
Symphonic poem depicting the main river that flows thorough
the Bohemian (Czech) countryside
Program notes: p. 254
Listening Outline: p. 255
Brief Set, CD 3:34
Listen for: Program material and how composer
related it to the music
Chapter 12
Chapter 11: Hector Berlioz
French composer (1803-1869)
Mid-romantic period
Wrote unconventional music
– Passionate and unpredictable
Major award for Fantastic Symphony
– Autobiographical—program note, p. 248
Worked as music critic for support
One of the first of the great conductors
Chapter 11
Berlioz’s Music
Imaginative, innovative orchestrations
– Required huge resources
Pioneered concept of idee fixe
As a pioneer, his work was not always understood
by his listening public
Chapter 11
Listening
Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic Symphony)
Hector Berlioz (1830)
Fourth Movement: March to the Scaffold
Program notes: p. 248
Listening Outline: p. 249
Listen for:
Brief Set, CD 3:30
Program material and how related to the music
Returning melody for idee fixe
Chapter 11
Listening
Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic Symphony)
Hector Berlioz (1830)
Fifth Movement: Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath
Program notes: p. 251
Listening Guide: p. 251
Listen for:
Basic Set, CD 5:34
Program material and how related to the music
Returning melody for idee fixe
Chapter 11