Transcript File

Transitional Romantic Music
Ludwig von Beethoven
Ludwig von Beethoven
• Born in Bonn, Germany on the Rhine River.
• Beethoven’s father tried to make his son a child
prodigy, but he failed.
• He had a horrifying childhood.
– Father was a raging alcoholic who beat Beethoven
& his brothers.
– As the oldest, Beethoven often felt he had to protect
his younger siblings.
– Mother died when he was young, so the boys were
left with their father.
• He studied with Haydn in Vienna.
– He was a regular performer for the Viennese
aristocracy & nobility (but he doesn’t particularly like
the nobles.)
– Works within the system.
• VON: German aristocracy.
• Beethoven was not a German aristocrat, but he
added this to his name to enhance his standing
with the noble classes of Europe.
• Beethoven was not a very good-looking guy:
– Short
– Bad complexion
– Wild hair
– Fierce look
• BUT, women threw themselves at him because
he was passionate about his music.
• For Beethoven, composing was tedious &
difficult; his music tends to be profound &
sometimes disturbing for the average listener.
• He was always popular with the general public
& was considered the common man’s
composer.
• Beethoven was not part of the patronage
system; he relied on wealthy friends to help him
get by; he had the freedom to compose with no
deadline pressures.
• He was one of the first composers to make a
small profit from his music.
– People commissioned him for pieces of music.
• By the age of 31, he could no longer hide his
hearing loss.
– No one is sure of the cause of his hearing loss.
– He communicated by using little notebooks.
– His hearing loss ended his career as a performer.
– He withdrew from society & became a loner & very
reclusive.
• During this period his personal troubles &
abandons composing.
– His brother Caspar dies & Beethoven sues his
sister-in-law for custody of his nephew, Karl.
– Beethoven wins the suit & gets custody (women
had little rights in this time.)
– He tries to turn Karl into a child prodigy, much like
his father tried with him (same techniques, same
bullying, etc.)
– Around the age 17/18, Karl attempts suicide;
Beethoven’s treatment of Karl becomes known &
people turn from him.
– The nephew cuts off all contact with Beethoven &
lives with his mother; Beethoven is rejected by the
public.
– For a number of years, Beethoven composes a few
things but his reputation is not restored until the
premiere his 9th Symphony.
3 Periods of Beethoven’s Life
1. Young man (beginning composer, until 1802)
2. Vienna Years (1802-1814)
3. Loss of hearing & reputation (1814-to death)
Youth
• Beethoven’s early compositions are Classical in
nature & reflect the teachings of Haydn.
• His music in this period is very much like what
was being written by Mozart & other Classical
composers.
• During this period he writes the following
compositions:
– String quartets to opus 18 (1798-1802)
– 1st Symphony (1799)
– Piano Sonatas 1-3
The Vienna Years
• 1802-1814
• Beethoven goes beyond the boundaries of the
Classical period.
• He starts laying the groundwork for Romantic
music.
• He writes 3 of his most famous symphonies
during this period
– 3rd Symphony (“Eroica”)
– 5th Symphony (first to use trombones)
– 6th Symphony (no clear divisions)
• The 3rd Symphony was originally a tribute to
Napoleon, whom Beethoven greatly admired.
• But when Napoleon showed himself to be
nothing more than a dictator, he changed the
title to “Eroica,” a tribute to heroism.
• The 5th Symphony was built off a seed motive
of 3 notes; a seed motive is a small group of
notes that leads to a melody.
• The 6th Symphony is a tribute to nature which
is why it is called “Pastorale;” there are no clear
divisions in this symphony.
• Beethoven wrote a total of 7 symphonies during
this period.
• He also wrote two very important piano sonatas
during this period.
– Waldstein
– Appasionata
Late Years
• 1814 to death
• By this time he is totally deaf & in his own
musical world.
• Period of great personal troubles.
• He writes some of his most profound music
during this period, most notably the 9th
Symphony (his most important piece.)
• He wrote the “Missa Solemnis” or “Solemn
Mass”
• He also wrote some rather abstract sounding
string quartets.
• Some piano sonatas written during this time.
• Total works include
– 9 symphonies
– 32 piano sonatas
– 16 string quartets
– 1 opera (Fidelo—very successful)
– 5 piano concertos
– 1 violin concerto
– Numerous piano pieces, like “Fur Elise”
Elements of Beethoven’s style
1. Self-contained movements (except for the 5th
& 6th Symphonies)
2. Changed the minuet (3rd movement) to the
scherzo (faster tempo)
3. Fluctuating dynamics (loud to soft)
4. Ingenious use of silence (rest)
5. Suspense building techniques
Beethoven was hampered by the limitations of
the instruments of the time period (music
sounds better today.)
Beethoven’s Orchestrations
1. More powerful & intense than those of Mozart
& Haydn (& other composers)
2. Added more instruments (in each family) to
the orchestra to get a more powerful sound.
3. Increased dimensions
4. Development of themes (musical ideas)
5. Exploitation of dynamics
Romantic Period
Historical background
1825-1900
• Romanticism is a reaction against Rationalism
• People were tired of the cold scientific nature of
the Age of Reason.
• The Romantic age would be a period where
“feelings” would prevail.
• The Romantic period begins in Germany with
the transcendentalist movement.
• Johann von Goethe is credited with beginning
this period with one of his books.
• Goethe’s book “The Sorrows of Young Werther”
is the story of two lovers who cannot be
together because of social circumstances.
• Since they can’t be together, they decide to die
for love in a suicide pact.
• All over Europe, young lovers who can’t be
together make their own suicide pacts.
• Goethe is forced to put ads in the major
newspapers saying that his book is a work of
fiction; stop killing yourselves
Romanticism is…..
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The way the world SHOULD be.
Feelings, emotions
Irrational part of the mind
Individualism
Emphasis on God, spirituality, nature
Mistrust of the Industrial Revolution (science &
technology)
• Transcendentalism: go beyond the ordinary
existence by contemplating or meditating on the
beauties of nature & the world.
Inspirations
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Shakespeare
Nature
Supernatural
Love & Hate
Folklore & folktales
Greco-Roman ideas
Celebrities
Byron
Keats
Shelley
Wordsworth
Goethe Austen Bronte Sisters Poe
Dickinson
Walt Whitman
Dickens
Victor Hugo
Schiller
Brothers Grimm
Coleridge
Romantic Music
• Builds on the principles of Classical music but
then departs from those principles
• Less emphasis on formal balance & structure
• More emphasis on emotional depth, richness of
sound, & feelings of spontaneity
• The flow of the music is more important than its
structure.
• Harmony & tone color become the most
emphasized elements
• Tone color: sound quality of the instrument.
• Changes in the instruments improve the sound
that they make (technical improvements; result
of the Industrial Revolution.)
• Orchestra grows in the 19th century
• Less percussion & brasses; more string, piano,
& woodwinds.
• Order of importance of elements:
– Tone color
– Harmony
– Melody
– Rhythm
Types of Compositions
• Symphonic style becomes the most important
type of composition.
• Piano pieces (short & long)
– Piano becomes the most important musical
instrument in late 19th century
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Chamber ensembles (quartets & quintets)
Concertos & sonatas
Operas
Some church music
Piano Music
3 Important types of piano music written in the
Romantic period
• Art song
• Short piano piece
• Long exhibition pieces.
Art Song
• Developed in Germany from the lied; lieder is
plural.
• Became popular in the 19th century (started in
the 18th century.)
• Pianos become the home entertainment center
in the 19th century.
• Art songs use the strophic organization (AKA
strophic form.)
– Same melody for each stanza (strophe.)
• The piano is used only as support for the singer
& help paint a picture of the scene.
• One art song that uses the supernatural as its
inspiration is “Erlkonig.”
• Erlkonig means “King of the Elves.”
• It is based on a poem from Goethe
• One voice sings all four characters.
– Father
– Son
– King of the Elves
– Narrator
• Story goes like this….
• A father is riding on horseback through a storm
holding his sick son (the boy is delirious from
fever.)
• The son believes he hears & sees the Elf King;
the Elf King is speaking to him, trying to get the
son to go with him & leave the father.
• The father rides faster & faster to reach home,
pleading with his son to hold on & stay with him.
• When the father reaches home, he finds the
son has died; he has gone with the Elf King.
Other piano pieces
• Short piano piece: usually from 3-5 minutes
or 10-12 minutes.
• Played at home (usually) in small intimate
settings.
• Performed by pianist (soloist.)
• Long piano piece (AKA exhibition piece) for
the virtuoso pianist
• Solo pianist or solo piano & symphony.
• Can last from 10 to 30 minutes.
Piano Composers
• 3 main composers for the piano in the 19th
century are Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, &
Frederic Chopin.
Franz Liszt 
Robert
Schumann
Frederic Chopin
Frederic Chopin
(1810-1849)
• Born in Warsaw, Poland while under the control
of Napoleon.
• His father was a French attache; his mother
was Polish.
• Chopin showed talent at a very early age (7); by
this time the piano is better developed.
• 96% of his compositions are for the piano.
• He is one of the first composers to make a
living off his compositions.
• He goes to study in Vienna (still the cultural
capital of Europe at this time.)
• When Russia invades Poland, he declares that
he is a Polish national in exile. He is fiercely
patriotic.
• Moved to Paris in 1830 which is starting to
outshine Vienna in terms of culture.
• Chopin is shy about performing; he only
performs to small groups of people; soon he
becomes of the city’s celebrities.
• He is known for his virtuoso performances.
• Chopin is widely acclaimed during his lifetime.
• He meets Mme. Aurore Dudevant who is a
novelist living in Paris away from her husband.
• Her pen-name is George Sand; she is
notoriously unconventional.
• They begin a very public affair; from all
indications they were very passionate.
• It ends bitterly (she continuously criticizes his
Catholic beliefs.)
• When Chopin died, she refused to attend his
funeral (big snub.)
• Chopin died of tuberculosis (consumption.)
• His body is buried in Paris but his heart in
Warsaw.
Works
• Etudes: 24
– Etude is a “study” to show off the technical
expertise of the pianist.
• Preludes: 27
– Does not introduce another piece; selfstanding composition.
• Nocturnes: 21
– Nocturne is a relaxed free-flowing piece; slow
in tempo
• Ballades: 4
– Ballades are songs; some technical expertise
required of the pianist.
• Polonaises: 17
• Mazurkas: 56
– These are both Polish folk dances; Slavic
rhythmic patterns & folk melodies; no dancing
in the music; just capturing the flavor &
sound.
• Sonatas: 4
• Concertos: 2
• 3 important things to remember about
Chopin
1. He introduced the use of RUBATO
– Rubato: when the melody goes ahead or lags
behind slightly while the accompaniment
maintains a steady beat.
2.Chopin also had a greater impact on
piano music than other composers of the
period.
3.His music becomes the standard for piano
students, especially from the middle class
homes.
Test Information
Part I
Match the biographical
characteristic with the
composer.
Part II
True/False: Background
information on the Romantic
period & Romantic music
Part III: Identify the significance of each
of the following
1.Scherzo
9.Mme. Aurore Dudevant
2. Eroica, Pastoral, Chorale
3. Vienna
10. Rubato
4. Lied or Lieder
5. Erlkonig
6. Liszt, Schumann, Chopin
7. Etude
8. Polonaises & Mazurkas
Part IV: Discussion
1. Explain changes in thought brought on by the
Romantic period (10 points.)
2. List & explain the 3 periods of B’veen’s life,
including major compositions written in each
period (10 points.)
3. Which composer (B or C) had more influence
on music in the 1800s? Defend your answer
with information you have learned about each
composer (5 points.)