Definitions Flashcards
Akademie
Putting on a concert for one’s own benefit. Composers would dedicate the work to someone. Beethoven was the first, April 2, 1800.
Musique concrete
Electric acoustic music stemmed from tape recorder, Used natually occuring sound taken into a studio to mix sound bites to make a composition
E.g., Varèse: Poème électronique
Prepared Piano
a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects (called preparations) on or between the strings.
Aleatoric Music
indeterminacy at the level of performance. The performer is asked to make decisions which will affect either details or even the form of the piece. In many instances elements of chance music and aleatory music coexist in the same work. (John Cage).
Chance Operations
A term introduced by John Cage for techniques that open the compositional process to chance, for example the tossing of a coin to determine pitches. See also indeterminate music. How its done-make a list of the elements used, Make rules for their use, then use (a game of chance such as rolling dice or the flipping a coin)
Interderminancy
Music represented by three main tendencies:
1. Chance music 2. Aleotory Music 3. Stochastic music
Polyrhtyhms
is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, Le Sacre du printemps
NIJINSKI
Choreographer for the Rite of Spring
Diaghilev
On May 29, 1913, in Paris, Les Ballets Russes stages the first ballet performance of The Rite of Spring (Le Sacré du Printemps,) with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky.
Ballets russes
Ballets Russes, ballet company founded in Paris in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev. The original company included the choreographer Michel Fokine and the dancers Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky; the choreographer George Balanchine joined in 1925.
Neo-Classicism
Trend in the interwar period
Reaction to Strauss/Wagner
Order, balance, clarity
Return to tonal center
Classicism
Forms of classical period with larger more complex orchestraKlangfarbenmelodie
Klangfarbenmelodie is a musical technique that involves splitting a musical line or melody between several instruments, rather than assigning it to just one instrument, thereby adding color and texture to the melodic line. The technique is sometimes compared to “pointillism”, a neo-impressionist painting technique
Heiligenstadt Testament
-Doctors really thought that if Beethoven’s ears could rest there was a chance he would regain his hearing, unfortunately, that was not the case. On October 6-10, 1802 Beethoven wrote a letter while he was living in Heiligenstadt. It was addressed to his brother but in reality to humanity. It is a witness to Beethoven’s despair. He debates taking his life because of his hearing loss. The duty to art is keeping him alive and gives him strength to continue composing. The Heiligenstadt Testament exposes the humanity of the composer. The testament was found among his things after his death. “Choose patience for a guide”.
Scherzo
- musical joke, fast tempo, light humorous tone, Independent piece or part of bigger work like sonata or symphony. Established by Beethoven as a regular alternative to the minuet & trio as a classic movement type. Sometimes replaced III movement in Symphony in place of minuet and trio for example in Beethoven’s Symphony No 5 (elephant dance) or String quartet in c# minor 3rd movement The movement is typically a minuet and trio, in Beethoven’s 5th Symphony he uses a scherzo and trio.
German Lieder
- the birth of Lieder as genre October 14, 1814 - Erlkonig by Schubert. Lieder - elevation of the song into a higher art form and genre. Solo voice and piano are equally important, piano is a partner to the voice and has an active role. Compositions using high-quality poetry for example by Schiller, Goethe, Heine, Ruckert.
Strophic
- song with same music for each stanza of text/poem. Example : Schubert’s “Das
Wandern” from Die schöne Müllerin.
Modified Strophic
- song with similar but not the same music for each stanza of text. Example: Schumann’s “An meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust” (“At my heart, at my breast”) from Frauenliebe und Leben.
Through-composed
- songs with new music for each stanza of text.
Example: Erlkonig by Schubert.
Song Cycle
A collection of songs unified by a theme, topic, idea, motive. of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.
Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin, and Winterreise,
Schumann: Dichterliebe, Frauenliebe und -leben
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Leading of German Romanticism. Involved in Sturm und Drang movement. Wrote “Sorrows of Young Werther” and “Erlkonig.”
Music Criticism
Writing reviews about music and composers that was informational and promoting. Read by the middle class who attended concerts and sing and play at home Not a criticism in today's meaning. Example: Schumann's writing in Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.
Die Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik
1834 Schumann created a music critic journal
that promoted new composers and spread awareness about current and old music amongst the audience. He promoted Chopin, Brahms, but also Bach and Handel. He wrote as his imaginary characters Florestan and Eusebius who were part of his imaginary group of friends called “Davidsbund.”
