History Flashcards
Nationalism
- true identity derived from a common language and culture
- Chopin and his Mazurkas and polonaises
- Wagner
- Clara Schumann and her songs such as “Vorwarts”
Romanticism
- respected reason but did not believe it could solve all human problems
- valued individual
- valued subjective over universal
- valued emotional and spiritual over rational
- nature and glorified artist
- instrumental music dominates (abstract)
Idealism
A system of thought based on the premise that objects in the physical (phenomenal) world are a reflection of ideas in the mind (Noumenal)
Absolute Music
Music that wAs cut off from the larger world of words and ideas.
- prefix ab derives from the Latin for “separate”
- Eduard Hanslick believed this music stood above the rest because it transcended earthly life
Programmatic Music
Music with a written highly specified story.
- proponents include Wagner who considered it too abstract to carry true meaning
- Liszt was also an advocate of this music
Ludwig von Beethoven
- was said to have ended the genre of the symphony
- wrote nine symphonies; piano sonatas; piano concertos
Scherzo
- Italian for “joke”
- became the standard for the third movement
- faster and longer than minuets
Fugato
A passage that begins like a fugue but does not sustain itself after a series of initial entries.
- featured in Beethoven’s symphonies
Heligenstadt Testament
Written suicide note by Beethoven
Hector Berlioz
He was hailed as the only composer to follow Beethoven in the symphonic genre. Complimented for his originality. He became bold in his orchestration with his Symphonie Fantastique which is programmatic and autobiographical.
Concert Overture
A single movement work that is in some way associated with a drama, poem, place, event, or mood.
- Felix Mendelssohn’s Overture to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
- Mozart’s opera overtures and Beethoven’s Leonore
Felix Mendelssohn
Wrote his Overture to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” when he was 17. Child prodigy. Born into a nonmusical family.
Lieder
- German song
- due to the rise of German poetry; the growing availability of the piano; and the idealization of domesticity and the family
- can be strophic, modified strophic, of through composed
- Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
- German lieder and song cycles
- wrote “Erlkonig”
Parlor Songs
- so called because they were typically performed in the parlor (living room)
- strophic and sentimental
- emphasis on naturalness and directness
- Stephen Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer
Stephen Foster
- famous American composer
- songs usually portrayed subjects with compassion and dignity
- wrote parlor songs
- Beautiful Dreamer
Character Piece
- a work of relatively small dimension that seeks to portray and explore the mood or “character” of a particular person, idea, situation, or emotion.
- brief sectional and fairly simple
- Robert Schumann Carnival
Rubato
- literally “robbed time”
- a bending of the tempo that involved tempo shifts
Frederic Chopin
- Mazurkas and polonaises which are native Polish dances
- nationalism
- nocturnes
- Études
- Waltzes
Robert Schumann
- Carnival (character piece)
- autobiographical A.S.C.H. S.C.H.A
Franz Liszt
- Nauges gris (Grey Clouds)
- virtuosic pianist
- popularized the recital
Louis Morceau Gottschalk
- American composer with sympathies to the Union side during the civil war
- wrote Union with Yankee Doodle, Star Spangles Banner, and Hail Columbia
Niccolo Paganini
- very strong virtuosic violinist
- wrote his Caprices which were very difficult
Bel canto
“Beautiful singing”
- Rossini
- refers to a vocal technique that emphasizes lyrical melodic lines, legato phrasing and a seemingly effortless vocal technique.
- lively ending known as Cabaletta
Cabaletta
Features in be canto arias
- lively conclusion
Gioacchino Rossini
- established the bel canto operatic tradition
- Italian
- Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Giuseppe Verdi
- leading composer of opera
- dramatic realism
- the use of the scena (scene) as the unit of dramatic organization: extended spans of music and drama uninterrupted for little opportunities for applause
- dramatically justified virtuosity: reflect character of singer arias never interrupt the flow of the drama
Richard Wagner
- proponent of programmatic music
- Lietmotif
- ## drama acted on stage could be treated as visible and verbal manifestation of drama acted by instruments in orchestra
Gesamtkunstwerk
- Wagner
- drama acted on stage could be treated as visible and verbal manifestation of drama acted by instruments in orchestra
- can trace the development of music by the changes of the Lietmotif
Lietmotiv
- “leading motive”
- a brief musical idea connected to some person, event or idea on musical drama
- growth, development, and transformation
Clara Schumann
- Vorwarts
- political theme
- a Capella, four parts, small chorus
- poem written by Emmanuel Geibel
Anton Bruckner
- style from Renaissance
- Caecilian movement a Capella and in the style of 16th century polyphony
