Symphonies

Question 1

Developments within the orchestra during the Classical Era were…

Answer 1

Abundant

Question 2

New instruments such as the… were developed and the number of instruments employed…

Answer 2

Clarinet , increased

Question 3

What did the symphony grow out of?

Answer 3

The Baroque Italian Overture, a piece in three sections: quick-slow-quick

Question 4

What were the Baroque Italian overtures for?

Answer 4

The overtures, sometimes called “sinfonia”, were originally written to precede an opera or oratorio performance, but later played on their own

Question 5

What was Haydn known as?

Answer 5

Often called “father of the symphony”

Question 6

Why was Haydn known as “the father of the symphony”

Answer 6

Wrote at least 104, refining enriching and expanding the form and creating a template used by other composers

Question 7

What did Mozart add to the symphony?

Answer 7

Much shorter life, wrote over 40 symphonies, taking the form from Haydn, by adding his own touches of orchestration and melody.

Question 8

How many symphonies did Beethoven write?

Answer 8

9, moving quickly from symphonies in the classical style (No1 and No2) to large romantic pieces, expanding on depth of emotion

Question 9

What is a symphony?

Answer 9

Is really a sonata for an orchestra, usually in 4 movements. The larger ensemble gave the composers even more opportunity to contrast timbres and to expand ideas

Question 10

How big was the symphony orchestra?

Answer 10

At the time of Mozart and Haydn was not the large ensemble of today. When Haydn began working for Prince Esterházy he had about 20 musicians, with the possibility of hiring more for special occasions

Question 11

What was the basis of the orchestra?

Answer 11

The string section with one or two players per part

Question 12

How was the orchestra built, what were the order of added instruments?

Answer 12

• strings (1 or 2 per part)
• oboes / and or horns
• overtime other woodwind : 1 or 2 flutes and bassoons
• then trumpets and timpani
• the newly invented clarinet was also a possibility

Question 13

What was the clarinet alternative to?

Answer 13

Haydn and Mozart viewed clarinets as an alternative to oboes and did not usually include both

Question 14

During Haydn’s time working for Prince Esterházy, how large did the orchestra grow?

Answer 14

To about 25 musicians

Question 15

When did Haydn write for a large ensemble?

Answer 15

In his six ‘Paris’ symphonies composed in 1785-1786

Question 16

Who were the Paris symphonies written for?

Answer 16

For a Masonic lodge orchestra, with up to 40 violins and corresponding large wind and brass sections

Question 17

When was another opportunity for Haydn to write for a larger orchestra?

Answer 17

London symphonies (numbers 93-104), performed during his visit there

Question 18

By the end of the Classical Period what was the standard orchestra?

Answer 18

Comprised of pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets, timpani and strings (this is the orchestra Beethoven began his career)

Question 19

What was the string section like?

Answer 19

Used instruments very similar looking to violins, violas, cellos and double basses played today, but with lighter and shorter bows and gut rather than metal strings

Question 20

What were the flutes like?

Answer 20

Made of wood, with holes covered by fingers, rather than pads, which were a later invention, and had a smaller dynamic range and would be more difficult to keep in tune

Question 21

What were oboes,clarinets and bassoons like?

Answer 21

Did have some keys but not as many as in modern instruments

Question 22

Clarinets are transposing instruments ‘in A’ meaning that…

Answer 22

They play sound a minor third lower than written

Question 23

How were brass instruments very different?

Answer 23

Both trumpets and horns would not have had any valves (used to alter the length of tubing and to play different notes) but would’ve been “natural” instruments. This meant they could play the notes of the harmonic series in a particular key by changing air and lip pressure, but other notes were unplayable. For this reason, brass instruments often do not play when the music has modulated or if a movement is in a different key . Sometimes brass players used crooks: sections of tubing inserted into the instruments to change the key. However this took time and was not possible during a movement, only between movements or different pieces

Question 24

What are the order of instruments in scores?

Answer 24

• Woodwind (flutes, oboes,clarinets, bassoons)
• Horns (sometimes used with woodwind)
• other brass instruments
• percussion (in the middle of the score)
• string section (1st, 2nd violins, violas, then cellos and basses sharing a stave)

Question 25

Trombe (sometimes instruments named in another language other than English)

Answer 25

Trumpets

Question 26

What are “historically informed” performances?

Answer 26

The conductor and performers have tried to emulate how music sounded when it was first performed, these latter recordings use “period” instruments ( ie found specifically at the time of Haydn), such as natural brass instruments with crooks rather than valves, wooden flutes and string instruments with gut strings and an orchestra of about 41 players - the size of the orchestra in the first performance of Haydn Symphony No100 in G “Military”, first movement.

Question 27

What are “authentic recordings”?

Answer 27

The pitch of recordings can also vary, Today a1 (A above middle C) = 440Hz, but in Haydn’s time there was no standard pitch and a1 was generally a little lower. The dynamics and articulation used can be a matter of personal taste

Question 28

What is Monothematicism?

Answer 28

Means “one theme” and was a technique used by Haydn and Mozart (in his later works). It can be seen in Haydn Symphony No100 in G “Military”, first movement

Question 29

What sort of phrasing is assumed in the Classical Era?

Answer 29

Assumed that there are “balanced” two or 4 bar antecedent-consequent phrases

Question 30

What was the reality of phrasing?

Answer 30

Composers such as Haydn and Mozart delighted in writing unequal antecedent consequent phrases and sometimes merged the end of one phrase with the start of the next