Mystery Score #2: People Flashcards
ETA Hoffman
Says deafness put Beethoven out of the public sphere
Poster child for romanticism – struggle of deaf composer creates “awe-inspiring greatness”
Described/discussed Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Born into a musical family in Bonn, Germany
Considered piano prodigy by age 12
Known as a pianist before a composer
First compositions (cantatas at age 19) before moving from Bonn to Vienna
Traveled to Vienna to study with Haydn
3 style periods
Confessed his hearing loss in 1801 (end of early period)
Poster child for Romanticism
Heiligenstadt Testament
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Famous poet during the Romantic era
Der Erlkonig, Gretchen an Spinnrade
Wilhelm Müller
Another famous poet Die Winterreise (all 24 song cycles)
Franz Schubert
Born and raised in Vienna
Raised by schoolteachers but studied piano, violin, singing, and counterpoint
Prolific lied composer – over 600 lied
Freelance composer
Divide between commercial world (his piano works, symphonies, etc.) and non-commercial genre (lied).
Schubertiade – intimate performance setting for his more personal lied
Robert Schumann
Composed symphonic works, lied, and piano music (all before 1840)
Collections of character pieces
Florestan and Eusebius
The characters in Schumann’s Carnaval Florestan An element of Schumann’s personality “impulsive revolutionary” Irrational mind (freud) Angular melodies, striking dissonances, and offbeat sforzandos
Euesebius Schumann’s rational mind Slow, non-dancelike rhythms Chromatic bassline Flowing melody
Clara Wieck Schumann
Married to Robert Schumann Good “friends” with Brahms Concert pianist Wrote dances, variations, preludes/fugues, character pieces, and chamber music Concert pianist Focused on composer’s intention Born into a musical family Improvised a lot Performed everything from memory (started the tradition)
Fanny Mendelssohn
Sister of Felix
Born into banking family in Berlin
Both studied piano and had rigorous musical training
(theory and composition)
Important because male and female had the exact
same education
Led a salon (salon concert)
Concerts that would happen at their house every
week (semi-intimate)
Frederic Chopin
Born in Poland but travelled to Vienna and then to Paris
New form of patronage – piano teacher to the wealthy
Composed 200 pieces for Piano
Idiomatic for piano – figuration/fingerings (wrote in some finger patterns)
Genres include – etudes (exercises), character pieces (Nocturnes), Mazurkas (Polish folk dance), and Polonaises (aristocratic dances)
Felix Mendelssohn
Born into a banking family in Berlin Piano/organ virtuoso Well-known conductor Worked in Berlin, Leipzig (same as Bach), and Dusseldorf Responsible for the Bach Revival Founded the Leipzig conservatory Piano music, character pieces, lieder \_\_\_\_ work (songs without words) Classical romantic Mixed symphony and romantic style Trained in classical forms/styles Importance of themes Creative orchestration Extramusical elements
Nicolò Paganini
The first itinerant virtuoso
Traveled around as a touring musician
Born in Italy, traveled to Vienna, then settled in Paris
Performed (mainly) unaccompanied violin repertoire
Exceptional chops
Invented extended techniques (left hand pizzicato, harmonics, scordatura)
New “Romantic” relationship between the soloist and the audience
Audiences worshipped him, especially the ladies
Often depicted as a crazy virtuoso who could conjure the other-worldly while playing
Franz Liszt
Born in Hungary, then traveled to Vienna, then settled in Paris
Saw Paganini perform in Paris
First solo concert
Only piano music and only one performer
Brought the solo piano into the concert hall
Turned the piano so the audience could see his hands
Hired the first “personal” impresario
Handled booking gigs, accommodations, and food
Wide-ranging repertoire
Concert Etudes
Transcribed a wealth of repertoire for piano
Wrote showy character pieces (works that capture a single emotion, character, or idea)
Hector Berlioz
Wrote A LOT of program music
Studied at the Paris Conservatoire
Obsession: Harriet Smithson – saw her on stage and became obsessed with her
They got married and then divorced
Innovations
Orchestration – wrote the first treatise on orchestration
Program symphonies
Idee fixe (represents the beloved, in this case Harriet)
Gioachino Rossini
Italian, born near Rome
Businessman – Beethoven and Rossini opposites – Rossini composed for the money, Beethoven did not
Operas were performed widely (then and now, maybe second to Puccini)
Set both comic and serious librettos
“Rossini Crescendo” – music and dramatic content both build and grow from beginning to end of the act
Precursors: Mozart and Paisiello (who set Barber of Seville first)
Perfect pacing of music and drama
Ensemble finales (lots of patter singing)
Omits dry recitative
Coloratura melodies
