Romantic

Question 1

Effects of the high status of composers in the romantic period

Answer 1

The composer thinks of them selfs differently
They are constantly burdened to be original.
It has to have divine inspiration.
Your music has to express your individuality. Brahms can’t sound like Schuman, it has to be unique.
Emphasis on autobiography because music expresses personal experiences. Your music is an expression of your experiences, your life.
Viewpoint of listener less important.
since the composer is the most important the person listening is less significant compared to them. “There are many princes there is only 1 Beethoven”
Fetishizing of the composer’s intentions. What did the composer mean when they wrote their work? How can we interpret their works?
Art-popular divisions:
An artist is divine. Those who were not true artist were not divine.
Entrenching of art entertainment boundaries.
Partly due to new conception of the composer
Led to creation of hierarchies of value. Art music is better then other music, it is more profound.

Question 2

Do you see any of these new 19th century conceptions of the composer in our contemporary world?

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3 (Eroica)

Answer 3

A bold new inception of what the symphony could represent
Remarkable increase in length. Compared to symphonies before it. Even compared to Beethoven’s others. The 1st mvmt alone was 15 min when in the classical era a whole symphony was typically 15 min.
Sonata form re-interpretation to portray the trials of a hero. Thinking of sonata form as a form that can interpret life’s experiences.
Numerous formal innovations throughout. Especially pertaining to form. The development section of the 1st mvmt is longer then the expo and the recap. It becomes the central ingredient to Beethoven. The coda becomes important too. It is nearly as long as the expo. It is a place where a whole new set of ideas is explored. The development actually contains a whole new theme :O
The symphony was about what heroism was and the life of a hero.

Question 4

Beethoven’s 5th symphony

Answer 4

Had no title of any sort
Has been associated with fate though, but this was probably not Beethoven’s original intention.
Emotional journey
Fate motive
Unusual return of 3rd mvmt theme in last mvmt. Mvmts do not have to be independent entities, they can be related to each other.
Fate motif reoccurs throughout the whole piece = cyclical.
C minor to C major - triumphing over fate? Starts to transition at the end of the 3rd mvmt. This compleatly transforms our experience of this piece.
Thematic unity of the symphony a key influence on the 19th century symphonies composers.
This idea of unifying your whole symphony through a theme becomes very important.

Question 5

6th symphony

Answer 5

A new model for the programmatic symphony
Shows growing interest in the natural world in art: bird calls- the nightingale, the quail, and the cockoo
5 mvmts: first is unusually quiet. 1st mvmt is normally loud and fast, bombastic so this is different. This opened a big can of worms of to what you can do- rules are going

Question 6

9th symphony

Answer 6

Culmination of all his other symphonies
Leaves a lot of questions on how to follow him
Most remarkable for its final mvmt- incorporates a large chorus and solo voices
Vastly expands the intellectual and musical goals of the symphony
Sets Schiller’s Ode to Joy
Influence of revolutionary French Cantata. This is a piece promoting democracy. Aka revolutionary. By incorporating choral (cantata) he is further cementing this idea.

9th Symphony Structure of Finale:
Begins by presenting themes from each preceding mvmts: each rejected in recitative- like style.
Wind instruments pre-emptiness introduce joy theme.
After we hear these themes the cello and basses come and mimic recitative. They seem to be quite dismissive though. It is like they are rejecting the previous themes. Interrupt to quietly offer first full hearing of the joy theme
Instrumental variations on joy themes
Theme from beginning of last mvmt briefly returns
He brings us to a point where the orchestra is not longer able to express by its self what he is trying to get across- aka voices. Ultimately words must take over.
Vocal resistive
Vocal theme
Vocal/ choral variations
Alternates March and Fugal writing to Coda.

Question 7

What did the addition of voices in the 9th mean for the future of the symphony?

Answer 7

So we don’t know what he meant. is Beethoven saying that the traditional instrumental symphony is not capable of expressing emotion. Is is de valuation? Demonstrated though that is was capable of so much expression. This is where later composers prove them selfs.
Conundrum: If composers added voices they risked being unoriginal. But if they didn’t could their works still be emotional?

Question 8

How did the role of the composer change from the classical to the Romantic periods and why did it change?

Answer 8

18th century: composer is more of a labourer. It was just his job.
With with the rise of the middle class, the new way of looking at art and music the composer has a different image.
The composer is now in charge of creating the highest of all art forms. They are the most intelligent citizen, they are close to God, they are receiving something divinely inspired. The composer is not just a servant to someone who has lots of money now. Now they have something unique to say to the world.
The nobility is essentially collapsing. There are less people with large amounts of money to employ them. They got to look else where to many individuals to employers. Also writting music for the middle class to learn, this new class that wants music to be able to learn needs the music.
This fuels the composer is The greatest thing.
Composers with celebrity status.

Question 9

What was The Heiligenstadt testament and the letter to the immortal beloved what impact did they have?

Answer 9

Portrayed him as a tortured artist.
Very influential document for Beethoven’s reception
Affected how we think about composers and biography
Reads like a will. Expresses his great dispare, especially about his deafness.
This revelation that such a revered composer was contemplating suicide was devastating to Europeans at the time.
Maybe he was able to write such profound music was because he was suffering?
Art is a way a tortured individual can express them selfs is exemplified in his story.

Question 10

What was Beethoven’s impact on society and other composers?

Answer 10

Heralds of new era of romanticism. Technically he is a classical composer, but the romantics snap him up especially with his ideas of infinite longing.
Brought new status for the composer
Composers struggled to deal with his legacy
Absolute music seen as a way for philosophical ideas and emotions to be expressed.
He was in charge of his career he was so famous. Makes other composers realize they should have this independence, .
How do other composers continue to write symphonies after this.
Every symphony had to be new and innovative.
This idea that music was capable of putting forth ideas and suggesting philisophical messages will become very important for romantics.
Concerts were more important now. Not just people being social with music being played. You had to sit and listen and put an intellectual aspect to it.

Question 11

What were 6 Compositional challenges letf by Beethoven?

Answer 11

1. Form
2. Vocal contribution to the symphony
3. Fusion of Genres. Different genres can come together to create new works.
4. Cyclical coherence.
5. Role of Finale. In the 18th century the finale was often lighter then the opening, an after though. But for some of Beethoven’s symphonies is where everything comes together.
6. Composition as metaphysical undertaking. It requires intellect, philosophical though and profound originalality.

Question 12

Beethoven’s style and contributions:

Answer 12

Bold innovator- highly original and influential figure.
Superb musical architect: planned and meticulously revised works in sketchbooks that we still have today. These helped contribute to his legacy.
Thematic material often grows out of short incisive motives.
Developed and expanded classical genres; especially the Sonata concerto and symphony. Innovations include: replacing the graceful minuet and trio with more the mor dramatic Scherzo, use of cyclical structure, programmatic elements, and inclusion of coarse and soloist in the symphony. Explosive accents and extreme dynamic contrast admittedly made possible through piano innovations.

Question 13

What were some of the changes to symphony orchestration in the 19th c.?

Answer 13

Grew in size all through the 19th c.
At the beginning of the 19th century the standard was: strings, double woodwinds, 2 horns, 2 trumpets and timpani.
New instruments added: trombone, piccolo, bassoon, percussion, valve brass instruments
Norm was triple woodwinds, up to 20 brass instruments, a lot more percussion, and a much larger string section

Question 14

5 Ws of the concert overture.

Answer 14

History: Handel, Mozart, Beethoven
Romantic concert overtures
Evocative title - historic, poetic, pictorial
- Subject matter personal
- Sonata form
- Mendelssohn, Schumann, Dvorak, Brahms, Grieg
Rose in popularity in 1830s; decreased in prominence around 1850 when Liszt introduced the symphonic poem.
Became popular because composers didn’t know what to do with the symphony after Beethoven.

Question 15

Mendelssohn’s a mid summer night dream overture

Answer 15

He wrote it when he was 17.
Presents a succession of themes representing the plays main characters.
Has parallels to the play but he also wanted listeners to hear it on its own terms as music.
Classical elements:
• regular phrase lengths
• sonata form
Romantic elements:
• Shakespearean tale
• personal response to an artwork
• evocation of nature using orchestral effects
Felix Mendelssohn,
While you listen:
Q. What is the dramatic function of the beginning and ending?
Felix Mendelssohn,
Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1826)
While you listen:
Q. What is the dramatic function of the beginning and ending?
Q. How does M. adapt sonata form to evoke the program?
Q. How does M. evoke the natural world in the music?

Q. How does M. adapt sonata form to evoke the program?
Theme groups
Q. How does M. evoke the natural world in the music?
Opening 5 measures: enchanted forest scene. High trills are fairies.
Dynamic contrasts in development represent the forest.

Question 16

The romantic concerto

Answer 16

Another genera they turned to while they figured out what to do with the symphony.
Perfect romantic art form. Provides a perfect medium for:
Fascination on the inner life of the composer.
• Reflected obsession with the virtuoso. This is tied with their idea of the composer as a divinely inspired genius.
• Fast-slow-fast structure (as Classical era)
• Orchestra increasingly important
• Greater differentiation of soloist and orch. Has to do with the individual, not just a showcase opportunity. Orchestra is bigger but there is more of a distinction. They won’t play together, because the composers wanted to amp up the drama by the anticipation of the soloist coming in.
• Non-programmatic. A place to explore purely music ideas. This didn’t stop listeners from applying it though.

Question 17

Beethoven’s fourth concerto op. 58.

Answer 17

Illustrates interplay between soloist and orchestra. It is different from anything before because before it would be grand but now more anticipation. Gentle quiet, removed, orchestra sets up the soloist and the piano responds, but quietly. Orchestra and soloist alert age their ideas but neither gives way to the other. Then Orchestras dynamic goes down and soloist goes up so that the piano is in a way taking over the material. Then when you get to the end they are both quiet. So it’s like they moved together. Start off opposing then end up like this.
Some listeners have interpreted this to be a musical reenactment of Orpheus and Euridice.
Trend would continue from this point to increase the role of the orchestra but without diminishing the demand for soloistic virtuosity.

Question 18

Subsequent Romantic Concerti after Beethoven’s piano concerto op. 58:

Answer 18

• Ever-increasing role for the orchestra
• Move towards symphonic scale. They are not just show pieces any more,
• Exemplify the 19th century emphasis on individualism, epitomized by Beethoven
• Debates about the place of virtuosity:
• Liszt codified his concerto movements to show off his performing skills. This design very popular amongst composers - I drama; II lyricism; III dexterity. Eg. Piano Conc. #1 (1849). Show off how good you were.
• Brahms’ concertos employ a more serious, symphonic aesthetic. A Venue to explore the same ideas that you are in the symphony, more then just showing off.

Question 19

The 19th C. String Quartet:

Answer 19

Modern and socially meaningful genre
Test of a composers true art
Expression of personal emotions
Became the personal equivalent to what was done in the public symphony. In chamber music you were reflecting your personal feelings more

Question 20

Beethoven’s late string quartets

Answer 20

• Written 1824-6 (after the 9th symphony)
• op. 127, 130, 131, 132, 135 and the Grosse Fuge
• Op. 127, 130, and 132 dedicated to Prince Golitsyn. And commissioned by him. He wrote 6 and 3 are dedicated to him.
• Ignaz Schuppanzigh helped instigate. He was one of the individuals who had put G. In touch with Beethoven. When B was writting these quartets he gave them to this guy to look over and he said they would be possible but unbelievably difficult. Beethoven said something along the lines of he isn’t think about the preformer any more. He is turning I word so much he doesn’t care about them.
virtuosic; meditative
Composed after the 9th
Beethoven moved to smaller forms after this work.
Remarkable and startling.
Have no precedent in even his works, and they wouldn’t really be replicated.
He was almost toltaly deaf
Nephew custody battle.
He’s deaf, alone, depressed and at the same time Vienna is changing. Erotica: full of hope and revolutionary change. Now it is gone, he is depressed about the political future of Vienna.
These quartets are where those “frustrations” come out.

Question 21

Beethoven’s string quartet Op. 130, 5th mvnt., “Cavatina”

Answer 21

expression of private grief?
Romantic vocality in instrumental writing
arch so that makes sense here.
Sounds almost like an aria- very lyrical, it would be easy to put words too. Almost sounds like weeping. 1st violin sounds like the vocal line with other accompanying.
Cavatina is a word from opera. its a sort of introduction.
Instructed to play: under the voice, chocked. This chocked part is like off the beat, like crying.
Somewhat similar to the 9th but much more personal. He treats the violins like a vocal line. And he gets so chocked up on the grief he can’t get the notes out.
Later: instrumental music as vocal.
These quartets served as a way for him to express what was going on in his life at this time.

Question 22

Innovations in Beethoven’s late string quartets

Answer 22

Multi-movement works (eg. 5, 6, 7 mvnts.)
He doesn’t follow the typical form in these later quartets.
Experimental treatment of key relationships. Chromatic like, something that those listening at this time couldn’t under stand. They thought he had gone mad. 6 mvmts in the one we looked at and 6 keys.
In a way not just expressions his emotions but testing the limits of the genre.
Radical variety of textures

Question 23

Beethoven’s string quartet op. 130 mvmt 1

Answer 23

Begins with numerous starts and stops
• Slow introduction that are thematically integral (related to later themes, intro forms later themes)
• Exposition modulates to flat VI, not dominant (Bb->Gb)
Thematic/ harmonic freedom in Exposition and Recapitulation - development happens here

Question 24

Beethoven’s string quartet op. 130 mvmt. 2

Answer 24

Very short scherzo in Bb minor
• Trio middle section in Bb major
• Travels back to Scherzo opening via metrically ambiguous section ( m. 54ff)

Question 25

Schubert quartets

Answer 25

Many contemporary to Beethoven’s late works
• Show expanded scale of Beethoven’s quartets
• Tonal ambiguity. Hugely innovative. very lyrical.
Influence of the lied eg. Slow movement of D minor Quartet, “Death and the Maiden” (1824). Listen to how he intwines this into the work.
Very romantic

Question 26

The string quartet after Beethoven

Answer 26

Show surprisingly little influence of Beethoven and Schubert. No powers seems to have taken them up on the challenge they left. Beethoven in perticular, his late quartets were seen to be a buy product of a suffering man who didn’t know what he was doing that this point. It wasn’t until the 20th c. Until composers started to investigate them and realize the genious in them.
Nor did they follow Schumann with his lyrical approach.
Not until Brahms do we get innovations in this genre again.
• Haydn and Mozart remained the models
• Eg. Schumann op. 41, Finale (1842

Question 27

Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique (1830)specifically:

Why a symphony, and why programmatic?

Answer 27

•Berlioz could not break through in opera. Opera was where it was all at but it was hard to break into.
Keen to continue Beethoven’s legacy
Particularly influenced by Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. But Berlios takes what Beethoven did with this symphony in in very new direction. It’s almost like his interest in opera is being converted to symphony.
He hadn’t actually seen Beethoven’s 9th but had read a score.
He decided he would do symphonies then.
It is an example of the importance of program music

Question 28

Symphony fantastique and how was it the quintessential romantic symphony

Answer 28

the quintessential Romantic Symphony. It was the first great romantic symphony in some ways. It only came out 6 years after his ninth. But it clearly bears the stamp of this new romantic way of thinking.
Harmonic adventurousness Rich and inventive orchestration
Subject matter
– Autobiographical. We know that the story was based on Berlios own experiences, especially his love life. And that focus is a very romantic era thing.
– the life of the artist
– affairs of the heart
– nature
Dramatic subject matter provides a medium for dramatic experimentation.

Question 29

The women who inspired symphony fantastique

Answer 29

Estelle Fornier: He fell in love with her when he was 12 and she was 18. He was particularly occupied with her pink boots. He was obviously infatuated with her. Wrote a song about it. Forms the inspiration of a theme in the 1st mvmt.
Harriet Smithsonian: he person who the symphony is really about.
Famous actress.
He had a massive crush. But she had no idea.
He idee fixe is used to reference her. And every time you hear it it is him remembering her. He is able to show the transformation of his feelings through the transformation of the idee fixe.
Camille Moke: she was present at the permier. She was an 18 year old pianist who Berlios fell in love with. They were engaged but then he broke it off. She spread some unflattering rumours about Smithsonian and it is suspected the 5th mvmt is in a way bassed off these.
Then a few years later and Harriet Smithsonian came to see it and met Berlios and they got married.

Question 30

The symphony fantastique program:

Answer 30

Various situations in the Life of an Artist”
1. Dreams and Passions: the artist sees and falls in love with a young woman and the idee fix occurs when he sees her.
2. A Ball: he sees her at a ball from a distance.
3. Scene in the Country: thinking and dreaming of her in the countryside.
4. March to the Scaffold: he discovered the she isn’t what he thought she was and he tries to kill him self through opium. And imagines that he killed her and he is about to be executed for it.
5. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath: has been assembled for his funeral and at that funeral the woman he was in love with mocks and taunts him.
So you can kinda see how it’s the fusion of a play or opera with a symphony.

Question 31

Instrumentation/ orchestration in symphony fantastique

Answer 31

Grand Traité d’Instrumentation et d’Orchestration Modernes (1833-4) he wrote this.
• Orchestra: 100+
Unusual instruments: ophicleide, serpent
Effects: col legno, glisssando, chords on the kettledrums.

Question 32

Leid

Answer 32

Germany responsible for establishing Romantic art song
• Lied = setting of lyric poem for voice + pf
• Vehicle for personal expressivity and folk
ideals. A medium for romantic ideals to be expressed as well.
Romantics valued the idea that personal experience could be explained through here. They thought of I and we as somehow linked.
Previously a specialist genre. It was quite simple and this really changed here.

Question 33

Why did the Lied come to prominence in 19th century?

Answer 33

Where previously the leid has used simple poetry but with higher poetry being made they thought it could be expressed through music. It was emotional and composers wanted to write emotional music.
Musical potential of lyric poetry.
There was also an idea that it would be capable of condensing quite grand ideas of society and philosophy. You could take these and make them simpler through song.
condensed emotions and styles of other genres to miniature form
• focus on domestic music-making. Other social factors here. Middle class was buying this. So there was a bunch of women staying at home who wanted to show off their skills on the piano.
Greater expressive range of piano. The instrument enlarging its self, and having more technical aspect it would add al lot more in terms of expression.

• Romantic interest in the individual
“music of the palace“+ “music of the people“= “music of the drawing room”
poetry: middle class issues. With the financial security that they now had they could afford it and have time to contemplate society’s issues and philosophy. So in these songs they had an oppertunity to do that.
Also ties into the growing importance of the individual. First and foremost 1 persons emotions trumps despite the fact that I and we were blurred
individuals in these songs were also confronted with something wether it was society, nature, etc.
Upper and lower class mixing.

Question 34

Why were so many composers putting music to Goethe’s “Kennst du das Land”

Answer 34

These songs were attractive because the character was mysterious. They couldn’t figure out what he character was trying to say. And this was attractive to composers who wanted to put their spin on a poem, they can do a lot with it because it’s ambiguous. It’s not immidiatly clear what mingon (the character is singing). But we can pick out romantic ideas: mysterious, ambiguous.

Question 35

Reichardt, “Italien” (1795-6)

Answer 35

Typical of Classical-era song-writing: 
• Syllabic
• Strophic
• Homophonic accompaniment
Harmonically straight-forward
Ghote preferred this because the music didn't distract from

Question 36

Schubert kenst du dad land

Answer 36

Bit more reflective and matches the words better. The piano is much more active. And it is much more difficult piano writting.
How is Mignon characterized: a lot more retrospective. Citing it for her sake, not someone else’s.

Question 37

Features of schuberts leider

Answer 37

Influenced by Second Berlin School (esp.
Karl Friedrich Zelter). They wanted to create this non operatic style that set this style. Schubert took it to another level. he felt the composer should be just as important as the poet. He thought his interpretation was valid too.
• But with S. see new interest in equality of poetry and music -> music elevated
• Around 660 settings
Major innovator in this genre
Folk-like melodies
• Elements of recitative. Still syllabic.
• Highly expressive piano. It’s potential is being explored. he often uses it to offer expressive sound effects. Ex: therefore will I go the chromatic scurrying in the piano.
• Used musical metaphors to express text
• Forms: (mostly modified) strophic or through-composed
Lack of vocal floridity. The virtuoso is not the most important aka different from opera.
• independence of piano part. They could almost stand alone without a singer. This is not simply accompaniment they are equally, the are in dialogue .
• search for unity
Increasingly chromatic language
Strophic.

Question 38

Schumann, “Kennst du das Land” (1849)

Answer 38

• Strophic form
• Immense contrasts within each strophe
• Tentative, simple setting of first 2 lines
• More dramatic setting for lines 3 and 4
• Alternates between G minor and major
Piano comments on vocal line
So we begin in this simple almost tentative mood, then become more strident, then back, and a piano melody joins them.

Question 39

Features of Wolf’s lieder

Answer 39

• Poetry-oriented
• soloistic piano writing
• Harmonic language of Wagner and Liszt
Local colour. Word painting. 
Not strophic. Partly freely composed. 
Greater harmonic range
Partly freest composed
Greater role for piano. It helps create even more contrast. 
Metric freedom an diversity
More dramatic. 
Applying ideas of program music to poetry.

Question 40

The 19th c. Piano

Answer 40

Expanded range: from 5 octaves to the 88 keys (7 octaves).
Pedals not knee levers.
Felt hammer coverings vs leather. Greatest a much heavier thicker sound, so creates more volume yet softer and warmer,
Tougher strings. Longer and thicker. Increase volume decrease overtones.
Still not as loud as ours.
In Great demand

Question 41

Challenges for the 19th c. Composer of piano music

Answer 41

How to write expressive melodies for piano? It was not clear how these legato beautiful melodies could be expressed on the piano.
How to combine these melodies with fashionable active accompaniments?
Experimented with splitting accompaniment with both hands. So not only accompaniment in LH but also in RH.
New techniques to imitate orchestral fullness. The pedal allows for this. Takes away from the percussive real. Octave doubting so also popular to help with this.

Question 42

The cult of Virtuosity: Pianists.

Who exemplified this as well?

Answer 42

Adored celebrity figure
Superhuman/ mythic creature. Seen as a people who were capable of offering a transcending experience for the audience. So if the composer is the God who can channel the god from above the virtuoso is the one who transmits the message.
Liszt exemplified this. He became the pop star of his day, very appealing to large numbers of fans. He was one of the first musicians to preform recitals. In his time it was much more normal to have concerts involving many composers instead of featuring just 1 person. This was a radical idea. There was many who though that this was inappropriate, that the piano should just be used in the home, that it couldn’t fill a whole recital hall with music (By its self) . But he created works that made this possible.

Question 43

Fryderek Chopin (1810-1849)

Answer 43

Born in Warsaw
Settled in Paris in 1831
Living: teaching and composition sales
Played mostly in private salons
Output almost entirely for piano.
Was not interested in large public events.
He preferred to preform in wealthy French homes.
The women would come together to discuss the intellects and he would preform at these.
Almost all his output is for solo piano.

Question 44

Chopins works for Piano:

Answer 44

(Originally) didactic forms, e.g. Etudes, and preludes
Eg. Preludes op. 28 (homage to Bach)
Light character pieces: Impromtus and nocturnes
Pieces inspired by Polish dances, polinaises, Waltzes, mazurkas
Longer works: Sonatas, Ballads, Scherzos.

Question 45

Key features of chopins style

Answer 45

Fluid, flowing lines
Rubato and ornamentation
Virtuosic glitter meet sentimentality But it is also emotional and moving.
Lines blurred between melody and accompaniment
Melodies were explicit, influences by operatic Aria, but with extensive variation.
End weighted forms
Chromatic elaboration
Delayed of harmonically significant chords

Question 46

What was the form or wad there one for Chopin ballad no. 1?

Answer 46

How useful is it to think of this piece as containing the basic elements of sonata form? How else might e describe it formally? Cold possibly describe it as a ternary form, but these from the beginning coming back…. And there is not clear cut form. It does not fit neatly into any interpretation.
If this is a character piece, what character does it depict?
But remember Chopin didn’t really follow rules, he’s innovative.

Question 47

Franz Liszt

Answer 47

(1811-1866)
Born in Hungary, adolescence in Paris
Spent much of life as touring virtuoso: later settled in Weimar then Rome.
Key figure in Rommantic “war” between conservative (e.g Brhams, Schuman and Mendhelsoon) and progressive composers such as Wagner, Berlioz, and Liszt.
Brhams was writting 4 mvmt sonatas Liszt was writing 1 mvmt ones.

Question 48

Liszt, Nuages Gris (1881) (grey clouds)

Answer 48

Hear we see his harmonic innovations. Very interested in chromaticism and moving harmony in radical directions
Very ambiguous. There’s not really a lot of cadences or other key confirmations
How does this help express the subject?
Opening: RH gradually moving down chromatically. The only thing we have that is close to a resolution is 1 f# to g. No clear fealing even at end.
Harmonic instability relates to the grey clouds: helps prevent the sun. Tremelo: Thunder?
We don’t really go anywhere,stuck in one place. Relate to nature.

Question 49

Name and describe the function of the 3 different types of 19th c. Choral music:

Answer 49

Part songs and short secular choral pieces. These were often written for armatures, usually homophonic and accapella or simple piano accompaniment. By and large most of this rep has been forgotten. But in the 19 c. This rep was important. E.g. The growth of the armature market.
2.Functional religious music. Religious music that serves a purpose in the liturgy. E.g. Masses. Ex: Verdi’s req, schuberts masses, Berlioz.
3.Works for chorus and orchestra eg.
Mendelssohn, Elijah
Oratorio is most common in this category.
Have a dramatic character and in a concert setting. They could be preformed in churches but not part of liturgy.
So another category in which armatures played an important part. Them having free time at their disposal to see them and even preform in armature choirs. Opperturnity for socializing. This tradition requires rep so composers like M. Did well in selling this stuff.

Question 50

Grande Messe des Morts

Answer 50

(1837)
By Berlioz
massive piece: 140 piece orchestra, 4 brass choirs. Lien to how he uses the text for the requiem as a source for inspiration. Romantic setting of this text, individualist interpretation of what judgement day might feel like.

Question 51

Bruckner, “Virga Jesse Floruit” (1885)

Answer 51

• A motet. A sacred polyphonic composition with a Latin text.
• Imitation of the Renaissance: Caecilian Movement. Which sought to restore the ideals of ren polyphony and chant in the church. he wanted to bring back this purity: the texture and rhythms of Palestrina. He did not want to be dramatic and emotional.
• Texture and rhythms -“Palestrina style”
Harmonies - occasional influence of Wagner. More chromatics Harmony, this marks it as a not ren work. He liked to use enharmonics.
Less bombastic romantic style.
Back to the ruins, the fascination of the past.

Question 52

Describe The 19th c. Oratorio as well as who were its most prominent composers? What 17th c. Composer served as a model?

Answer 52

Handel’s oratorios key models. 
Subject matter often religious, but had no liturgical function
Made up of:
Several mvmts. 
• Large choruses (often fugal writing)
• solo arias (1 or more soloists) 
solo ensembles  
Recitative
Most significant composers: Brahms, Berlioz, Mendelssohn.

Question 53

What are some differences between the traditional and 19th c. Oratorio?

Answer 53

The 19th-Century Oratorio
Traditional Features
Chorales
Emphasis on chorus
Setting of sacred texts: dramatic, narrative, and contemplative
Link to styles popular in opera at time

Modern Features

• Larger performing forces (eg. c. 200)
• Orchestral colour
• Some harmonic advances
• New interest in motivic unity and “reminiscence” motifs
• Programmatic orchestral writing

Question 54

What were some of Mendelssohn’s goals for the oratorio and why did they back fire?

Answer 54

Used music to encourage tolerance and community. he wants to bring people to God through these community excersises.
he believed music had a potent power to speak to out emotions.
• Music -> emotion -> religious understanding
• A morally and spiritually inspiring experience
But effectively results in “aestheticizing” of religion. he wanted to create a more religious society through his music.
What this ultimately ends to creating though is that religious becomes aesthetic : it serves as an inspiration for art. art becomes more important then religion, it is always more significant as a work of art then a religious piece.
Goes back to art is above society. So if we think of art as something that comes from God it’s ironic that it becomes more then religious.

Question 55

Why was the opera house so important in the romantic era?

Answer 55

It wasn’t a town if it didn’t have an opera house. At least in Itally.
Everyone would go to the opera
There was not room for all classes in the opera house
It was kinda like the community centre.
Everything from circuses to equestrian stuff.
But opera was the main thing
A big part of why it was so big was that it was to expensive to heat the house so they went to the opera for heat. This is why opera season is still during the winter.
Opera was the big thing. Think of Berlioz how he really wanted to do opera. Opera was the big thing

Question 56

Gioacchino Rossini
1792-1868)
What type of opera did he write? 
What style did he help develop? 
What were some of his transformations and goals?

Answer 56

• wrote serious and comic operas
• Helped establish bel canto style all about a Seminoles virtuosity, lot of embellishment. All about showing off the vocal agility of the soloists.
Transformed secco recitative -> accompanied recitative. No more secco. His is all because of the emphasis on melody and lyricism.
Beauty was his ultimate goal. He is less interested in exploring the complexity of the human emotion and philosophy. He is just interested in beauty.
Elegant, brilliant, heroic melodic writing

Question 57

Why was Rossini and the Italian opera style so different from the German and Beethoven?

Answer 57

Different attitude to art music in Italy than in Germany:
• performer-centred. Yes we have this growing number of virtuoso performers but the composers are always the big guys. What they intended becomes very important. In Itally though it was all about the virtuoso. The composers job is to make them sound good. Think of Beethoven who said screw you I write what I want. Rossini saw his job as a job not a divine quest from God. As a result he was required to make changes to music to suit the performer better. And he would probably not have felt any regret. His job was the serve her needs.
• composer as creator of entertainment, not divinely inspired genius
• Score of little value. Beethoven placed value in his scores, he kept his sketches, people might be interested how I interpret God. Rossini didn’t have this, the score is simply part of the equipment that makes the performance possible. Just a means to an end. And the performers did not follow them to he letter anyways.
• Tradition more important than innovation. Beethoven is all about innovation. He wanted to take everything in a new direction. Rossini realized his audience was quite conservative. he knew what he liked and he gave it to them . So instead of trying to innovate he took existing styles and built impressive works on them using formulas. This is pretty similar to how we do pop today.
Rossini vs. Beethoven:
R equal to B in influence early in 19th century. Rossini was still really important, they were equal in power and status to people in the 19th c. Especially because opera was so important.
R averaged 2 operas a season (compared to B’s 1 in entire career)

Question 58

What are some characteristics of Rossini’s overtures:

Answer 58

One of many formal types for which Rossini used a consistent model
This is the part of the opera that he became really famous for.
One of the reasons they’re so good is because he was a really good writer. He used more percussion, his woodwind writing was spectacular. his incredible skill at writting melodies too.
Rossini creshendo.
• Form:
• 3 part slow intro
• Exposition (2nd theme always woodwind solo) looks like sonata form, but then we don’t go a development section. Instead we have this:
• Crescendo codetta to…a short little Colette on the end of the exposition then a reca.
• Truncated recapitulation
• Crescendo coda

Question 59

How does the music of Rossini’s “Largo al Factotum” help introduce Figaro’s character?

Answer 59

This is an aria that is designed to introduce the character. As a result this is known as a cavatinna : an entrance Aria, used to introduce a chapter for the first time. Set form: usually in 2 sections.
Livley, cheeky, accompaniment, a character full of vitality and boastfulness.

Question 60

“Una Voce Poco Fa”

+ 3 important innovations in it.

Answer 60

• An entrance aria - cavatina
• Music reveals Rosina’s true character
Illusion of action through tempo and style change. But really there was nothing happening.
In this scene she is reminiscing when the count, who she thinks is someone else, was serenading her, meanwhile her guardian was pursuing her.
Structure (also applies to largo al factotum)
• Slow orchestral introduction
• Cantabile: slow section with highly
embellished coloratura singing. Almost recit but very embellished. Listen for this style and this embellishment. This is what she meant by the score is only a guideline.
Cabaletta: faster section bringing a change in mood and a Rossini crescendo.
How does the music differ from what she is saying?
The music by no means is simple, it is vary obvious that she has to spotlight, she shows her self as playful, almost like a picture perfect wife, and a very serious lady, but the music does not portray that. It is playful, boisterous. “I’m a good girl but I play games if I have to”.

Question 61

Rigoletto (1851)

What is it about and what does it Exemplify his ideas of?

Answer 61

Is a drama about court life. And a Duke who likes the ladies, this is getting him in trouble with the other Nobel man because he keeps on going after their wife’s and daughters. Look at text for synopsis.
• Opera in Three Acts
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Exemplifies his ideas of: seamless form, realism, virtuosity.

Question 62

Who wrote the libretto for Verdi’s Rigaletto?

Answer 62

Francesco Maria Piave

Question 63

Why were Verdi’s operas censored?

Answer 63

Government concerned about political potential of opera, especially operas about monarchs.
Verdi was not afraid to mix the pot
•close monitoring of librettos, music, staging
• In Rigoletto, character of the Duke had to be made more sympathetic
of corse at this time Venice like most of Italy was under the control of the Austrian empire. People wanted to move to democracy.
This idea of a count who does not have good morals raised concerns for the census. As a result the census demanded that Verdi made changes: that the Duke be made a more sympathetic character and That rigaletto was not a hunch back (social Darwinism) .
Verdi renowned for exploring contemporary political issues
Premiered at a time when Europe was undergoing through many political revolutions. Traditional monarchist were scared of scaring this traditional models reputation.

Question 64

Why Realism in Verdi’s rigaletto?

Answer 64

Realism: More objective representation of a social reality than previously seen: almost anti-Romantic in spirit.
Make opera and theatre more grounded in everyday life. The way Verdi interpreted this was he was trying to look at social life from a step back, a neutral position.
Operas from the past that offered social criticisms not current life.
Less emphasis on emotions and more about society and its problem. it in no way romanticize’s these problems. This is realism.

Question 65

How and why does Verdi justify virtuosity in rigaletto?

Answer 65

Even though he uses virtuosity he never uses virtuosity to the point it is not realistic any more. He is not interested in dressing up the music so the singer can show off. He only uses it when it helps the story in some way.
Another impact of this is that in the past, when the soloist finished their Aria, it built to a climax and then the audience leaps to their feet and cheers. But Verdi, because he is so interested in the flow of the drams, he creates these scenes and acts that do not allow for clapping. Only at the ends of acts.
•For Verdi, realism means no virtuosity for virtuosity’s sake
Applause for arias never allowed to interrupt the flow of the drama
Music of arias always reflects character of singer.
Music is reflective of the characters. For Verdi the number one Priority is to use the music to help.
The Duke often has virtuosity because he is a show off character.
With Verdi though it is much more consistent if the virtuosity matches the character VS Rossini who would give virtuosity to all.
The daughter has less spectacular lines, more airy, reflects innocence.
Create a work where the drama is at the forefront

Question 66

How did Verdi show a new approach to the structure of opera in rigaletto?

Answer 66

motivated by the drama
As a result of not wanting applause he creates these much longer units that flow into each other, seamlessly.
• music continually underscores the dramatic action
Verdi combines recits, arias, choruses etc. into larger dramatic units (eg. Act I) Though separate, each flows out of the other
The orchestral music also supports this flow of dramatic action.

Question 67

Verdi rigaletto prelude into act 1

Answer 67

Act I
Listened to:
End of Prelude
Scene 1: Opening dance; Duke’s entrance; Duke’s first aria
Prelude is serious sounding. Leads in seamlessly to dance music.
Scene 1:
What we hear to are 2 strophs of the same music. And it is virtuosic but only because it helps demonstrate his character.
Father of one of the daughters Duke is courting comes in and places curse.
Verdi, unlike Rossini, is not held back by form. He does what he wants when the action requires it.
Rossini principal goal was to create wonderful beautiful music.
Verdi is all about the drama. How can I write music to bring across this drama?

Question 68

Why was the duet in rigaletto so important?

Answer 68

Duet between Rigoletto and Gilda
• “duet within a duet” section (m. 243-) Strays from convention by
developing plot during duet - interrupting the conventional flow
The interruption becomes another duet in miniatures
What we see in in this section is that typically in Italian opera in an duet you’ll hear one sing then the other then together.
Normally no action will happen during the duet.
Well Verdi does not want to be restricted this way. he wants somethings to happen. So instead he interrupts the duet and he places another duet on a totally different subject with in the first duet. So you begin with this conventional structure. But then the main character leaves to check something (they are being watched) then they resume the duet.
This just like real life, in real life they would not wait to investigate, they would do it then resume.

Question 69

What was so innovative about the quartet in act III scene 8 of Verdi’s rigaletto?

Answer 69

•2 scenes happening at once:
1. Inside the inn where Maddalena has enticed the Duke
2. Outside the inn - Rigoletto and Gilda watching
Conveys contrasting emotions simultaneously Contrapuntal sophistication
Lots of innovation in this.
Shows Verdi’s skill in writing virtuosic music to reflect the moment.
Rigaletto has hired an assassin to kill the Duke because he does not like how he is pursuing his daughter.
Rigaletto and his daughter are watching outside the inn.
In side Duke is flirting with another woman.
* in the past composers would not have attempted this. One one had we have the flirtatious stuff in the inn.
But on the out side, they are angry.
How do you put the 2 together on one stage? And put music to it.
Listen for how he is putting all these bits together to allow it all to seamlessly flow together yet differentiate from such different emotions
How does he pull it all off:
Almost like an SATB voicing with 2 voices paired. Orchestration is divided in two as well. Somehow the happy giddiness of the Duke does not interfere with the weeping of Gilda.
It doesn’t matter we can’t hear the words because we can still hear the emotion.
He sets it all up so we are not confused dramatically

Question 70

German Romantic opera before VS after Wagner?

Answer 70

Libretto drawn from German folklore
Interest in the supernatural and nature
Interest in spiritual aspects (good vs evil)
Use of German folk like melodies and reminiscence motifs
Use of orchestral colour for dramatic expression
So really what he does is brings all these features to their apotheosis
He brings it to a new level of sophistication in these elements

Question 71

What was Wagners conception of the music Drama?

Answer 71

Brought “music of the future” to the theatre. A new way of thinking. This was music that was strongly reliant on a text. So Liszt turned this into the symphonic poem. Wagner the opera.
• Influence of Beethoven 9. Symphony was no longer enough. Opera was the ideal medium them.
Abolished traditional form of opera: “unending melody”. Said he had to abolish the old forms. He wanted to break down all those chunks of music and make one big chunk. Similar to Verdi but Verdi retains some more of the old design. Wagner almost holds onto none.
Art as the uniting of all forms of expressions: the Gesamtkunstwerk- means total art work. He thought that previous opera was to obsessed with pleasing the public. And he thought that was in bad taste. So he changed it to this. Which means music drama. His was drama as the highest form of art, but he thought it could even exceed its own potential when combined with other art forms.
•Leitmotif and its development central to his style. It is transformed as the opera proceeds.

Question 72

Key works by Wagner

Answer 72

Rienzi (1842)
Der Fliegende Holländer (1843)
Tannhäuser (1845)
Lohengrin (1850)
Der Ring des Nibelungen (1848-1874): Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Seigfried, Götterdämmerung
Tristan und Isolde (1857-9) takes harmony to its limits.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1862-7) much less radical, very tonal. Reigns him self in.
Parsifal (1882)

Early works: he is experimenting
But around 1849 he starts to develop theories on opera. And then he creates the 4 part drama that took 15 years to write.
Tristan: experimentation on harmony.

Question 73

What was so special about Wagners librettos?

Answer 73

Written by Wagner himself. He didn’t really trust anyone else to write it.
Address profound philosophical issues for example Tristan and Isolde is a place for him to explore the ideas of a famous philosopher at the time.
Subjects come from Germanic tradition, including mythology, folk epics, history. All very much German.
Uses Stabreim style of old German poetry, to be even more German.

Question 74

What was Bayreuth?

Answer 74

A new type of theatre for a new type of opera. He designed it himself on the pretence of his idea that the orchestra should be hidden.
•Settled on town of Bayreuth to build his new Festspeilhaus, an auditorium in the shape of an amphitheatre
an orchestra invisible to the audience
Assistance from patron made first performance of The Ring there possible
It was designed to force the audience to engage with the issues that the opera is exploring.
Still run by Wagners ancestors.
Only possible to build it because King Ludwig II helped fund it.

Question 75

What functions did leitmotifs play in Tristan and Isolde:

Answer 75

Reflects the character journey, and develops as the character does. But it does not only signify the character it also shows foreshadowing. An also be associated with an idea.
Modern example: Star Wars. A lot of film composers have used this.

Question 76

Harmony in Wagners Tristan and Isolde

Answer 76

The sound of the harmony is always greater then the function aka very totally ambiguous
chromatic and non resolving.
makes constant forward movement possible
transposition of motif (3 times)
goes to the dominant and DOES NOT RESOLVE
refusing to give you a cadence
compared to the drama — dragging it out, “longing motif”
expands, transforms, and fragments harmony
ambiguous harmony
sound > function
rate of harmonic change is fast
Revolutionary for composers to uses such a great amount of harmonic language and rat of harmonic change.

Question 77

Who was Marie Taglioni?

1804-84

Answer 77

• A key figure in transforming Romantic ballet
• Freer, more graceful, light, and delicate movements. Much lighter on her feat.
• Point shoes, (she was one of the first to use this) bell-shaped, shorter skirt and fitted bodice. This was very bold for the day. You could better see her feet if her skirt was raised. Aspects of this dress still influence modern ballet attire.
Encouraged the new focus on the prima ballerina. This is the equivalent of opera and the lead femail soprano. So foucus is always on the main ballerina.
Italian Swedish ballerina
Important figures in changing ballet
She’s also another alliteration of the obsession of virtuosity. She was the female dance equivalent of Liszt.
People come to ballet just to see her. Everything is subsidiary to her.

Question 78

What were Tchaikovsky’s contributions to Ballet?

Answer 78

• Before Tchaikovsky: music for ballet only “aural décor”
Tchaikovsky’s ballet music:
• Symphonic quality - sought cohesive whole
• Tonally linked movements
Helped create a narrative and sense of dramatic development
He really brought about significant changes to Ballet
Russian composers before him when the wrote ballet music, the music was not really important. It was just background music. As a result there were several different works by several different composers that were patches together to make a story. It was not a genre that composers were putting time into.
So he changes all that and he brings to music this symphonic quality, he starts the think of it as something that more sophistication could be brought into.
Not just loosely put together numbers but pieces that all fit together.
Es thinking about a whole harmonic evolution for the piece. central part in home key, unrelated keys for feelings of contrast to differentiate the drama.

Question 79

Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake (1876)
How does it fit in with the romantic era?
Abstraction of ending plot?

Answer 79

• Inspired by Russian folk tales (nationalism). This shows his interest in helping create a Russian music tradition. But we don’t just see Russian music. We see many others, he was interested in adding exoticism.
• One of the most popular ballets in history
• Romantic elements: alignment of natural world and world of human emotions. These are seen to be bound together. Story is set in the forest, swan human interaction.
• Abstraction of ballet music permits multiple possible interpretations of plot. He imagines a story and writes his music accordingly but leave it up to ballet masters to interpret it in many different ways.
Beautiful melodies; rich orchestration. Strong emphasis on melody. He is incredibly art full in his orchestration.

Question 80

What is the Plot of swan lake?

Answer 80

Love story of Prince Siegfried and Princess Odette Prince was told he needed to get married and went out at night and discovered a beautiful woman then he fell in love. He also can not murder the guy who put the spell on her or else she would be trapped forever.
• Evil sorcerer von Rothbart has cast a spell on Odette: swan by day, woman by night
• von Rothbart tricks Siegfried with an Odette imitator, Odile. He thinks it’s the same woman. Odette finds out and is made but eventually they make up.
endings vary: suicide or happy ever after. Won rothbart also dies because she she dies he losses his powers.
Happy ending: Siegfried rips off a part of rothbars wing (because he’s a bird) and then Odette is human forever and it’s all happy.
Sad: every one dies.

Question 81

Why was the symphonic poem attractive for composers? How did this art form align with other romantic ideas:
And what was it? And why did it come about?

Answer 81

Fits with that progressive idea that music fits best when there is a story to go with it.
Music doesn’t need words.
Relatively short-lived genre (c.1840-1920)
Speaks to the fascination of the individual experience on a philosophical level.
• Grew out of the concert overture. Remember we looked at M.s mid summers night dream, this is still in sonata form. The symphonic poem takes this idea of a 1 mvmt work and sets it on its own. And has more of an affinity to the symphony over opera as M’s did.

Question 82

What are 3 different ways the symphonic poem satisfied romantic aspirations?

Answer 82

The idea music should be related to the world beyond it. So programatic, linked to something else.
2. A work where the idea of the multi mvmt work was kind of distilled down into a single work,
Composers in opera were trying to do this fee flowing thing, this is its instrumental equivalent.
3. Helped composers like Liszt to demonstrate that program music wasn’t shut a way to tell a story in music but that music could be very intellectual, and could express ideas of human existence.

Question 83

Liszt and the symphonic poem:

Answer 83

Liszt’s 12 symphonic poems from 1848-58 are central and important sizeable contribution to the genre. Later in his life after he was no longer touring.
He believed that program music was the highest form of music and he fervently believed that. This is the orchestral music equivalent to Wagner (who also had these ideas of program music.
Much debate about the form of Liszt’s symphonic poems: always dictated by the program
His approach to form:
Does not so away with sonata form entirely but uses it when it suits his needs and not when it didn’t call for it.
He insists that the program should interpret form of the work.
Lot of debate to how one might analyze these.
This is typical of where Liszt was coming form as an artist, a romantic artist at work. His works are always a form of his intellectualism not a mould that they should look like
Are not pieces that follow a straight forward narrative as inn symphony fantastique.
He is more interested in getting into the poetic underpinnings, the philosophical ideas in them.

Question 84

Liszt Prometheus plot and why the plot is important?

Answer 84

Origins in incidental music for Herder play
• The myth resonated with 19th-century conceptions of the artist
Liszt’s difficult reception encourages us to see the work as autobiographical
This as a symphonic poem that grew out of a commission for a play.
Pro steals the gift of fire from Zeus and beings it to the humans and this is how they learn of fire. He is then punished by Zeus, he is hung off a cliff, told to repent, he says no, and then he’s eaten by Eagles. Ideas: do what’s always right, be the hero.
Lists ideas about the artist and this story: P a rebel who goes his own way even though it brings suffering on him. Artist thought of them selfs as a suffering artist who went to far to a point that society could not understand.
He by the way believed that music was central to human progress (fire is also important parallels)
So it is in some ways autobiographical
2 themes one heroic one lyrical.
Different approach to program music. He doesn’t depict the pecking birds or literally laying down the narrative of the story. This is all just about what is going on in P’s head as he is waiting for his death. It’s much more philosophical.

Question 85

What is the form of Liszt Prometheus?

Answer 85

Sonata form, because to program suits it. Opposition of heroic with cantabile, sorrowful material- shows continued influence of Beethoven.
As I going to be the hero or acknowledge this suffering and accept it and be eaten by birds.
Sonata is an idea form for these because these are opposing themes that are explored over the work.