1800-1849 Symphony

Question 1

Name 6 symphonies ca.1800-1849.

Answer 1

Ludwig van Beethoven

1. Symphony No.1 in C, Op.21 (1799–1800)
2. Symphony No.3 in E-flat “Eroica”, Op.55 (1803-4)
3. Symphony No.5 in c, Op.67 (1804–08)
4. Symphony No.6 in F “Pastoral”, Op.68 (1804–08)
5. Symphony No.9 in d “Choral”, Op.125 (1817–24)

Franz Schubert
6. Symphony No. 9 in C “Great”, D944 (1825-8)

Question 2

Piece: Beethoven symphony, 1.

Answer 2

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.1 in C, Op.21 (1799–1800)

• The symphony is clearly indebted to Beethoven’s predecessors, particularly his teacher Joseph Haydn as well as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but nonetheless has characteristics that mark it uniquely as Beethoven’s work, notably the frequent use of sforzandi and the prominent, more independent use of wind instruments.
• The beginning of the twelve-bar introduction of the first movement is sometimes considered a “musical joke”. It starts with a sequence of repeatedly accentuated dominant-tonic chord sequences, however, in the “wrong” key and untouching and leading away from the tonic, so that the listener only gradually realizes the real key (or home key) of the symphony.
• five years after Haydn’s last symphony and twelve years after Mozart’s final Jupiter Symphony
• It refines the juxtaposition and combination of the orchestral instruments (woodwinds and strings)
• In the second movement, Beethoven uses the entire instrumentation of the orchestra and, consequently, displays a vast spectrum of sound in this movement which is composed in sonata form.
• Though the third movement is indicated as Menuetto, it is marked Allegro molto e vivace and, consequently, to be played so fast that it is essentially a Scherzo – a description mostly used after Beethoven’s first symphony.
• The finale opens with another introduction consisting only of scale fragments played slowly by the first violins alone (an unusual effect). The theme is taken directly from the 4th movement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 88 in G major.
• Musical content, instrumentation as well as tempi, is unusual—if not revolutionary.

Question 3

Piece: Beethoven symphony, 3.

Answer 3

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.3 in E-flat “Eroica”, Op.55 (1803-4)

• Marks the beginning of Beethoven’s creative middle-period.
• The first movement opens with two large E-flat major chords played, by the whole orchestra, and the first theme is introduced by the cellos. Beethoven introduces a new theme in the development section, thus breaking with the tradition of classical composition. At the recapitulation, the horns appear to come in early with the tonic melody, while the strings continue playing the dominant chord.
• The second movement is a funeral march with multiple fugatos.
• The third movement is a lively scherzo that features hunting calls from the three horns.
• The fourth movement is a set of variations on a theme, which Beethoven had used in earlier compositions, such as the finale of the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43 (1801). The bass line of the theme first appears and then is subjected to a series of strophic variations that lead to the full appearance of the theme proper.- Originally titled the symphony “Buonaparte” after Napoleon, but later changed it to “Heroic Symphony, Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man.”
• It is twice as long as the symphonies of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – the first movement is almost as long as a typical Classical symphony (with repetition of the exposition). Thematically, it covers more emotional ground than had Beethoven’s earlier symphonies, and thus marks the beginning of the Romantic period in classical music.

Question 4

Piece: Beethoven symphony, 5.

Answer 4

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.5 in c, Op.67 (1804–08)

• The Fifth Symphony had a long gestation.
• Beethoven was in his mid-thirties during this time; his personal life was troubled by increasing deafness.
• Beethoven dedicated the Fifth Symphony to two of his patrons, Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz and Count Razumovsky.
• The first movement is in the traditional sonata form that Beethoven inherited from his classical predecessors, Haydn and Mozart, and ends with a massive coda.
• The second movement, in A flat major, is a lyrical work in double variation form (two themes presented and varied in alternation).
• The third movement is in ternary form, consisting of a scherzo and trio.
• The movement returns to the opening key of C minor, and the trio section is in C major with a contrapuntal texture.
• The triumphant and exhilarating finale begins without interruption after the scherzo. It is written in an unusual variant of sonata form: at the end of the development section, the music halts on a dominant cadence, played fortissimo, and the music continues after a pause with a quiet reprise of the “horn theme” of the scherzo movement. The recapitulation is then introduced by a crescendo coming out of the last bars of the interpolated scherzo section.
• The Fifth Symphony finale includes a very long coda, in which the main themes of the movement are played in temporally compressed form. Towards the end the tempo is increased to presto. The symphony ends with 29 bars of C major chords, played fortissimo.
• The key of the Fifth Symphony, C minor, is commonly regarded as a special key for Beethoven, specifically a “stormy, heroic tonality”.

Question 5

Piece: Beethoven symphony, 6.

Answer 5

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.6 in F “Pastoral”, Op.68 (1804–08)- One of Beethoven’s few works containing explicitly programmatic content.

• Beethoven was a lover of nature who spent a great deal of his time on walks in the country.
• The symphony has five movements, rather than the four typical of symphonies of the Classical era:
  
  1. Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside: The movement is in sonata form, and its motifs are extensively developed. At several points Beethoven builds up orchestral texture by multiple repetitions of very short motifs. The infinite repetition of pattern in nature is conveyed through rhythmic cells, its immensity through sustained pure harmonies.
  2. Scene by the brook: Toward the end of the movement there is a cadenza for woodwind instruments that imitates bird calls. Beethoven helpfully identified the bird species in the score: nightingale (flute), quail (oboe), and cuckoo (two clarinets).
  3. Merry gathering of country folk: depicts country folk dancing and reveling
  4. Thunder. Storm: depicts a violent thunderstorm with painstaking realism, building from just a few drops of rain to a great climax with thunder, lightning, high winds, and sheets of rain
  5. Shepherd’s song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm: The movement is written in sonata rondo form, meaning that the main theme appears in the tonic key at the beginning of the development as well as the exposition and the recapitulation.

Question 6

Piece: Beethoven symphony, 9.

Answer 6

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.9 in d “Choral”, Op.125 (1817–24)

• The first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony.
• Text is from the “Ode to Joy”, a poem written by Friedrich Schiller.
• Beethoven was almost completely deaf.
• The scherzo movement is unusually placed before the slow movement.
• The first movement is in sonata form, and the mood is often stormy.
• The second movement, a scherzo and trio, is also in D minor. At times during the piece, Beethoven directs that the beat should be one downbeat every three beats, perhaps because of the very fast pace of the movement, with the direction ritmo di tre battute (“rhythm of three beats”), and one beat every four bars with the direction ritmo di quattro battute (“rhythm of four beats”). While adhering to the standard ternary design of a dance movement (scherzo-trio-scherzo, or minuet-trio-minuet), the scherzo section has an elaborate internal structure; it is a complete sonata form.
• The lyrical slow movement, in B-flat major, is in a loose variation form.
• The last movement begins with an introduction, which starts with a stormy Presto passage. It then briefly quotes all three of the previous movements in order, each dismissed by the cellos and basses which then play in an instrumental foreshadowing of the vocal recitative. At the introduction of the main theme, the cellos and basses take it up and play it through. The main theme forms the basis of a series of variations for orchestra alone.

Question 7

Piece: Schubert symphony, 9.

Answer 7

Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C “Great”, D944 (1825-8)

• Unusually long for a symphony, a typical performance of The Great takes around 55 minutes.
• In 1838, ten years after Schubert’s death, Robert Schumann visited Vienna and was shown the manuscript of the symphony. He took a copy back to Leipzig, where the entire work was performed publicly for the first time by Felix Mendelssohn at the Leipzig Gewandhaus on 21 March 1839. Schumann celebrated the event in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik with an ecstatic article in which, in a phrase destined to become famous, he hailed the symphony for its ‘heavenly length’.
• The first movement begins with an extensive introduction with its own miniaturised exposition, development and recapitulation.
• The second movement is in a modified sonata form without a development section.
• The third movement is a lengthy Scherzo and Trio which is structured in sonata form.
• The finale is in an extended sonata form. There are no less than six unique thematic elements in the main themes alone.
• Thematic development in the style of Beethoven is still present in the work, but Schubert puts far more emphasis on melody, which one might expect from the composer of some six hundred lieder. In fact, this new style prompted Robert Schumann to pursue his own symphonic ambitions.
• Beethoven had always used the trombone as an effect, and therefore very sparingly. In both Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony and the Ninth Symphony, trombones are liberated from these roles and have far more substantial parts.