Notes from Monday, March 24 class session:

 

 

Preparation For Mon. Mar 24:
1. Read textbook Chapter 7 (Romantic)--pages 67-74 [pp. 71-72 are very important]  (Music Guides [32, 33 from Chapter 6], 35, 40)

2. Listen to "Classical Music Online" examples for Romantic Instrumental Music.

3. Read Lecture Notes from Mar 19.

 

 

 

 

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LECTURE TOPIC: INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC OF THE CLASSIC ERA

(See Chapter 6 for details)

The following bold or bold/italic terms/works/composers were studied:

 

 

BEETHOVEN

- Early works in Bonn, Germany
- Studied briefly with Mozart in Vienna in Feb 1787, but was called home because of his mother's illness
- He planned to return to Vienna to resume his studies with Mozart, but when he left in late 1791, Mozart died, so Beethoven had to study with Haydn
- Soon after, Haydn left for London (two extended trips there between 1792-96)
- Beethoven at first had trouble composing, and was angry at Haydn
- Almost immediately, Beethoven began to forge his own style
- His basic method was to begin a new compositional approach by experimenting with piano music, then progress to chamber music, and ultimately take the method to the symphony

 

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONIES

Beethoven's Major Symphonies (#3, #5, #6, #9) --See Music Guide #32/Chapter 6 (Notice the gradual expansion of the size and nature of the orchestra--especially in Symphonies 5 and 9)

 

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His career falls into three clear phases: (Several of his 9 symphonies are excellent examples--especially since his compositional development followed a path that within each style phase began in piano sonatas--then moved to the quartet--culminated in the symphony)

EARLY PHASE (up to 1802--by which time he is deaf)

- He was primarily a renowned concert pianist until career ended by deafness

- (Symphonies 1 and 2)--fairly normal-Classic Haydnesque in style

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MIDDLE PHASE ("Heroic" style--1803-1819)

(Note: Starting in 1803, political commentary through literature, songs, operas, etc. was heavily censored by the Austrian Empire to protect against the emerging threat of Napoleon's French forces.  Even though Napoleon was defeated one and for all in 1815, the censorship laws were not rescinded in the Austrian Empire until the mid 1860s.)


Symphony No. 3 (1803; "Eroica;" depicts Napoleon Bonaparte)
- Initially intended to depict Napoleon as a freedom-fighting hero; however, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven restructured the work by inserting a funeral march in the 2nd movement (he also obliterated Napoleon's name on the manuscript and replaced it by the label "in memory of a great man")

 

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Symphony No. 5 (1804-8; 4 movements with an unusual structure)--see Music Guide 32/Chapter 6

- Depicts struggle and ultimate triumph over oppression:
- 1st movement: battle between oppressive theme in Cmi vs. heroic common "horn theme" ultimately in C major (C minor vs. C major)
- 2nd movement: Theme & Variations in which the lyrical theme in A-Flat is transformed into a brass call in C major that revives the implied hero from mvt. 1
- 3rd movement: common dance "Scherzo" eventually gains power until it is unstoppable and blasts right in to the 4th movement without a pause
- 4th movement is in C major (triumph over oppression) adds trombones, piccolo & contrabassoon for new sound dimension

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Symphony No. 6 (1807-8; "Pastoral"--5 movements with German titles)--see Music Guide 31/Chapter 6
- Beethoven actually completed most of this work BEFORE completing Symph No. 5;
- Depicts common people struggling for simple life vs. oppressive forces (German movement titles depicting commoners/French horn/scherzo are references to common folk)
- FIVE movements each given a programmatic GERMAN title depicting common folk people in some way:
Mvt 1-Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country
Mvt 2-Scene by the brook (Andante, slow movement)
Mvt 3-Merry gathering of country folk (Scherzo--shows same circular "gathering" of potential power heard in mvt 3 of Beethoven's 5th symphony)
Mvt 4-Thunderstorm/Tempest!! (The merry gathering of mvt. 3 is intruded upon by a vehement and oppressive force beyond their control)
Mvt 5- Shepherd's Song:  Happy, Thankful feelings after the storm (In other words, if the commoners can hang through the "Storm" of oppression, there is a happy new world for them on the other side (and a "new world order" because there is a 5th movement required for this to take place.

4th movement "Tempest" storm scene is metaphor for social conflict; 5th movement (peace will eventually come if we can weather the "storm")

So many aspects of Symphony 6 sound like sections of Symphony 5, it is not hard to decipher the implied socio-political meaning of symphony 5.

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LATE PHASE (1820-27)

Symphony No. 9 (1822-25; mvts. are purposely out of normal order)--see Music Guide 33/Chapter 6
1st mvt: chaos and hopelessness depicted leading to a cold, oppressive main theme
2nd mvt: Scherzo! (common dance, but now angry, frantic, unfocused)--Scherzo should have been a 3rd movement, but whe moved up to mvt 2 it implies a certain urgency of getting back to "the common dance gathering"
3rd mvt: Slow and VERY peaceful
4th mvt: Theme and Variations
- Shows relationship of the 4 mvts to each other
- Starts with "recitative" style of double basses/cellos that try to speak as a "voice of reason" to the orchestra (the masses in chaos)
- When the voice of reason tries to get the orchestra to focus, the orchestra refuses to try anything new at first (insists on hanging on to what they know--so they successively/timidly play themes from mvts 1, 2 and 3)
- mvt 1 theme is rejected by voice of reason as too chaotic;
- mvt 2 theme is rejected too (needs to be more peaceful)
- mvt 3 is close but not exactly what "voice" wants
- Double basses finally feature a new theme (at this point, it is a new tune by Beethoven, with no reference to Schiller's "Ode to Joy text") Beethoven's tune)
- Orchestral Theme and Variation on the "Ode" theme
- 8 minutes later, Beethoven starts the 4th mvt again, this time bringing in a singer (baritone instead of double bass) who SINGS the recitative, calling for the people to focus on more enlightened ideas ("joy/freedom")
- When this baritone singer sings Beethoven's new tune, he renders the words to Schiller's famous political poem "Ode to Joy," a political text of the time calling for all of mankind to love each other in order to pay homage to their Creator
- Theme & Variations resume with 4 soloists, full chorus, orch.