The Classical Period

Question 1

Lyrical melodies

Answer 1

• music of this period is pervaded by lyrical, singable melodies, which move in either stepwise motion or in small leaps
  
  • ex) Mozart’s piece is easier to hum than Bach’s

Question 2

Classical era

Answer 2

• (1750 - ca.1820)
• roughly coincides with the Enlightenment

Question 3

Balanced Phrases

Answer 3

• unlike Baroque’s long melodies, Classical music is based on short, symmetrical phrases with clear-cut cadences (satisfying resting places)
• Sentence: a phrase structure in which a short, basic idea is presented
  
  • presents a basic idea, which is then repeated and elaborated, which leads to a cadence

Question 4

Homophonic texture

Answer 4

• in order to support these lyrical melodies, composures set them in a clear, homophonic texture with very basic accompaniment underneath

Question 5

Sonata form

Answer 5

• a multi-movement instrumental work written either for a soloist or for a very small ensemble of two to three people

Question 6

Symphony

Answer 6

• a multi-movement orchestral work

Question 7

Three sections of a Sonata

Answer 7

1. Exposition
   
   • presents main thematic material (usually two short themes connected by a transition or a bridge)
   • moves us from the home key to a second, contrasting key area
2. Development
   
   • the composer plays around with the themes presented in the exposition and introduces a number of foreign keys in order to build tension
3. Recapitulation
   
   • provides a satisfying conclusion to the piece
   • the second theme, heard in the exposition in a contrasting key, is presented in the home key

• Essentially, the exposition presents the listener with a problem (the appearance of a contrasting key, which is then resolved in the recapitulation when the material in the contrasting key is brought back to the home key

Question 8

Opera buffa

Answer 8

• Mozart composed 22 operas
• extremely popular in European theaters at the end of the 18th century
• In contrast to opera seria, which focuses solely on noble, historic characters, opera buffa features characters from all ranks to society
  
  • Ex) “Don Giovanni” features a mixture of high-born and peasant characters
• High-born characters sing in a style derived from opera seria
• Peasant or servant characters are squarely in the comic world of opera buffa
  
  • their arias are characterized by harmonic and melodic simplicity and, for the male characters, a rapid-fire delivery of lyrics called a patter

Question 9

The Symphony

Answer 9

• the emergence of a public sphere
  
  • largely owed itself to improvements in communication networks (safer roads, improved postal service), large-scale urbanization, and rapid expansions in print culture
• formation of the public sphere gave way to concerts, which allowed symphonies to flourish

Question 10

Beethoven

Answer 10

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
  
  • figure representative of the transition between the Classical and Romantic periods
• his music has forms laid out in the music of Classical period, but at the same time introduces Romantic characteristics such as dynamic contrasts and longer, more elaborate melodic phrases

Question 11

Three phases of Beethoven

Answer 11

1. Early works written until about 1803. which are beholden to the style of Classicists such as Mozart and Haydn
2. Middle-period works (1903-1815), which introduce Romanticism: dynamic contrasts, explosive accents, and longer durations of works
3. Late works (1815-1827), which are both experimental in style and very intimate and personal

Question 12

Heiligenstadt testament

Answer 12

• Beethoven’s letter to his brothers
• written when Beethoven began to lose his hearing and temporarily retired to Heiligenstadt
• portrays himself as a struggling artist and a misfit in society
  
  • for him, his music is a transcendent art
  • he is writing not for material gains, but rather for posterity