Transcript Lecture 16
Reminders • Exam postponed until 4/8 • Activity 2 due next Thursday (3/20) Review • What are some main tenets of Romanticism? • In what ways was the piano a significant instrument in the 19th century • Who were some virtuoso pianistcomposers? Review • Chopin • What country was he from? • What types of pieces did he write? Clara Schumann • Concert artist and composer • Wife of Robert Schumann • Composed pieces for herself to play C. Schumann, Scherzo • Listening guide 43 • What does Scherzo mean? • Form: scherzo section alternates with trio… • Trio section contrasting in character. Usually calmer and smoother C. Schumann, Scherzo • Here there are two trios • Form: • Scherzo • Trio 1 • Scherzo • trio 2 • Scherzo • Or: ABACA C. Schumann, Scherzo • What is jesting about the scherzo? • In 3/4 time, third beat is emphasized (rather than first) More Romantic traits • • • • Romantic melody... Lyrical-song-like More expressive Romantic vs Classic • Romantic melodies tend to be less balanced • Romantic melodies tend to have a wider range Romantic Harmony • more dissonance: • So harmony in Romantic era is more expressive too • chromatic harmony • -chords not built from the diatonic scale of the "home-base" (tonic) key) • So harmony is more complex and less predictable Romantic Form • Basic tendencies • A) Classic forms are expanded • B) new ideas of cyclic unification are developed • However, these are • C) based more on sectional contrast (A vs B) instead of development (like Beet. 5th) Debate in Romantic Era • Between ABSOLUTE MUSIC-- music • • • • that refers only to itself and Program Music, where the music depicts a story, has an “Extramusical” subject… 2 genres or program music Program Symphony- multiple movements Symphonic Poem- 1 movement Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique • Listening guide 44 • Story of obsessive lover • the narrator takes opium and has a series of hallucinations • each becomes a musical movement of the symphony Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique • may have been based on Berlioz’s actual obsession and affair with Harriet Smithson, an actress • the lover is portrayed musically by an “idèe fixe” -- a melody associated with her that recurs obsessively • the “idèe fixe” occurs in each movement Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique • Movements=hallucinations • I: Reveries, pasions - introduces idèe fixe = “she” • II: A Ball-- she appears at a dance • III: Scene in the Fields-- she brings a storm Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique • IV: March to the Scaffold- he kills her • V: Dream of the Witches Sabbath- in hell he is taunted by her still Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique • Fourth movement: March to the • • • • Scaffold March rhythm Two main themes, A and B, that are developed in the middle The idée fixe comes at the end (when is thinking of the Beloved. Interrupted by the axe that chops his head off Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique • Fifth movement: Witches’ Sabbath... • Spooky opening • Then distorted version of idée fixe • Then funeral bell tolling • Then Berlioz quotes Dies irae, a Gregorian chant melody that was used at funeral Masses.