Test #3 (Lecture 11) Flashcards
(29 cards)
Describe the “death of the symphony” in the mid 19th C
- viability of symphonic genre thrown into question
- Wagner said Beethoven’s 9th marked end of genre, futility of absolute music
define symphonic poem
- new name for concert overture
- coined by Liszt
- more apt as a term because these pieces are both symphonic and poetic
- programmatic sources varied
who succeeded Liszt as the master of symphonic poem?
Strauss
at what point did the symphony become the largest, most ambitious and most prestigious of genres?
end of 19th C
what helped the symphony regain popularity?
- growing size of orch
- increased number of civic orchestras
- continued public nature
- hybrid symphonies
Brahms constantly felt the looming presence of which composer?
Beethoven
which one of Brahms’ symphonies was similar to Eroica?
4th (set of variations in finale)
Describe Brahms Symphony No. 4
- series of 30 variations
- each variation 8 m long
- each variation based upon an 8 m theme
- theme based of ostinato from Bach Cantata no. 150
- structure of mvt suggests old forms can be rejuvinated
- ostinato and variations Baroque-like
- harmony, orchestration and flow more progressive
Mahler’s First Symphony is in the tradition of _____ with trajectory from struggle to triumph
Beethoven
Mahler 1 is perhaps influenced from which woodcut by Schwind?
“The Animals Bury the Hunter”
Mahler 1 third movement incorporates a ___ ___ and ___ music
funeral march; klezmer music
the use of the funeral march in Mahler 1 relates directly to what?
second mvt of Eroica
*but more mocking and ironic
which minor mode variant of a children’s song is used in Mahler 1?
Frere Jacques
the Klezmer passage in Mahler 1 is followed by a brief return to Frere Jacques and a lyrical melody from another one of Mahler’s compositions called:
The Two Blue Eyes of my Beloved
Mahler 1 is an example of:
- collage and contrast
- juxtaposition between high and low
describe the beginnings of musical modernism
- 1890-1945 marks period where composers challenged fundamental premises of Western music
- new approaches to self-expression through sound
- modernist music often associated with rejection of traditional values
describe Impressionism
- term borrowed from art history (Monet, Degas, Renoir, Manet)
- short brush strokes instead of continuous lines
- impression or sensation of an image vs clear representation
in music:
- blurring of distinct harmonies, rhythms, forms
- greater use of timbre
- Debussy and Ravel
describe musical impressionism
Form: less goal oriented, flow from one mvt to next, less constructed according to harmony or theme
Harmony: uses tonality but with 9th, 11th, 13th chords; pentatonic and whole tone
Voice Leading: independent voices, parallel 4ths, 5ths, 8ves
Rhythm: avoids definite sense of meter
Timbre: distributing thematic ideas throughout orchestra
describe the plot of Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un Faune
- inspired by symbolist poem by Mallarme
- evocative and obscure, describes mythological faun’s erotic encounter (or dream) with pair of wood nymphs
describe primitivism as an artistic movement
- early 20th C
- concerned with purifying the arts and a rejection with the arbitrary-seeming rulers of Western culture
- “noble savage” more genuine, symbol of beauty and strength
- paintings by the fauves
describe musical primitivism
- several manifestations in 20th C
- wanted to elevate rhythm to a more prominate position
- triadic harmony, voice leading, diatonic scales abandoned (bc it represented civilized music)
what is polytonal harmony
two chords superimposed
what were the historical conditions that contributed to the emergence of nationalism
- identity
- folk music –> music of the people, low culture, purity of pre-industrial society
- modernism
in what ways did Bartok and Kodaly’s use of folk idioms influence their music?
- complex meter, irregular rhythms
- not functional harmony
- 2nds, 4ths, 7ths
- not diatonic harmony
