Joseph Haydn:

 

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Life/Career

 

  • Birth: Early 1700s (1732 – 1809)
  • Country of Birth:  Austria
  • Earning a Living:  Served as teacher; Played sacred and secular jobs; Worked for Esterhazy family; Traveled to London twice to complete last twelve symphonies (6 each time.)

 

Joseph Haydn:

 

Claim To Fame

  • Classical
  • Achievements: Developed the symphony and string quartet; contributed to Classical style; one of greatest Classical composers of oratorio and Masses; use of folk-like themes and counterpoint.
  • Genres: Oratorio, mass, string quartet, symphony
  • Innovation: Tafelmusic, Monothematic
  • Influences:  Influenced by Mozart, then later influenced Mozart

Joseph Haydn:

 

Style

 

  • Melodic Simplicty
  • “Surprises”
  • Clear Harmony; slower harmonic rhythm
  • Dominant Homophony
  • Importance of Sonata Form
  • Monothematic

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

 

Life/Career

 

  • Birth:  Mid 1700s (1756 – 1791)
  • Country of Birth:  Salzburg, Austria
  • Career:  Worked in Salzburg, moved to Vienna
  • Earning a Living:  Virtuoso piano player early in life; worked at Archbishop’s Court in Salzburg; Worked in Vienna

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Claim to Fame

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  • Classical
  • Achievement:;;Established national German opera style; Master of all genres, strong development of Opera and Concerto; Major contributor in the classical genres of the Symphony, string quartet, piano sonata, and the violin sonata.
  • Influences:;;
  • Influenced Opera:
    • Fusion of National Styles
    • Fused Comic and Serious (Giocoso)
    • Ensemble Finales
  • Influenced Concerto:
    • Created the “Classical Concerto”
    • Developed “standard classical-sonata form.”
    • Orchestra and Soloist equality.
    • Added new instruments to orchestra.
    • Wind-Band sonority; Question/Answer dialogue; Contrupuntal Collaborations; Orchestra with melody accompanied by soloist.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Style

  • Synthesis of German and Italian Styles
  • Clarity, restraint and proportion mixed with intensity.
  • Lyrical Melodies
  • Expressive Chromaticism
  • Dramatic Contrast

Ludwig van Beethoven

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Life/Career

  • Birth:;;Late 1700s (1770 – 1827)
  • Country of Birth:;;Germany
  • Career:;;Mostly in Austria.
  • Earning a Living:;; Harpsichordist and organist along with teaching piano; played viola around court and theatre; Haydn urged Beethoven to move to Vienna; played for aristocrats; lost some hearing and pulled out from performing

Ludwig van Beethoven

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Claim to Fame

  • Achievements:;;Culmination of classical period; transitional composer between romantic and classical; highly independent; helped elevate status of composers
  • Influences:;;Changed relationship between patron and audience; expression of individual feelings
  • Innovations:;;Expansion of sonata; cyclical structures; no pauses between movements; triumphant finales; independent overtures; program music; choral parts in a symphony

Ludwig van Beethoven

Style

  • Three periods:
    • Late Classical
    • Transitional
      • Heavily modified motives.
      • Rhythmic energy and driving rhythm
      • Abrupt shifts in mood and dynamics
      • Expansion of the orchestra
      • Wide tonal relationships
      • Altering proportions of sonata
      • Cyclic Structures
      • Programmatic Elements
    • Romantic
      • Sudden dynamic changes and explicit dynamic instructions.
      • Minor mode use; sudden and bold modulations
      • Expansion of Orchestra (Trombone)
      • Frequent use of octaves and thicker textures.

Franz Schubert

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Life/Career

  • Birth:;;Late 1700s (1797- 1828)
  • Country of Birth:;;Vienna, Austria
  • Earning a Living:;;Father gave musical training; tried teaching school; wrote for small gatherings; sold subscriptions; wrote Schubertaiden, one large-scale concert.

Franz Schubert

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Claim to Fame

  • Achievement:;;Wrote mostly in Vienna for mostly Lieder; created parternership/duet with piano and voice.
  • Genres:;;Lieder, Song-Cycles, Schubertaiden
  • Innovation:;;Duet/partnership between voice and piano.

Franz Schubert

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Style

  • Romantic
  • Known extensively as a “melodist.”
  • Great skill at innovative modulation (Imaginiative modulations and dual modality.)
  • Textpainting

Robert Schumann

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Life/Career

  • Birth:;;Early 1800s (1810 – 1856)
  • Country of Birth:;;Germany
  • Career:;;Took lessons from Clara Wieck; turned to literary writing and came up with three “characters” (Master Raro, Florestan and Eusebius); music critic; spoke up for serious German style; married Clara; worked at Leipzig Conservatory, had nervous breakdown on concert tour; remained in asylum for rest of life.

Robert Schumann

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Claim to Fame

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  • Achievements:;;Wrote reviews lifting careers of Beethoven, Bach, Schubert, Chopin, and Brahms.

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Robert Schumann

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Style

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  • “Autobiographical Music” = Fiercely Emotional
  • Almost all piano.
  • Significant portion of music is vaguely programmatic.
  • Irregular phrasing and “seamless” connections.
  • Innovative rhythmic use (hemiola, polyrhythm, etc.)

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Frederic Chopin

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Life/Career

  • Birth:;;Early 1800s (1810 – 1849)
  • Country of Birth:;;Warsaw, Poland
  • Country of Career:;;Paris, France
  • Earning a Living:;;Studied at Warsaw Conservatory; moved to Paris; Performed mainly at small, friendly gatherings; taught pupils of high social/economic standing; had relationships with several women, the most notable being George Sand

Frederic Chopin

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Claim to Fame

  • Influence:;;Wrote high quality piano music; Use of progressive harmony
  • Output:;;Mainly character pieces. ;(non-programmatic)

Frederic Chopin

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Style

  • Graceful, sensitive, romantic, and virtuosic. ;Did not focus on “showing off.”
  • Lyrical, graceful melodies.
  • Extremely ornamental (grace notes, passing tones, and extreme embellishment)
  • Adventurous harmony.
  • Ambiguity of diatonic and altered pitches.
  • Delayed resolutions
  • Not beginning and ending piece in tonic or even the same key.
  • Tempo Rubato

Franz Liszt

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Life/Career

  • Birth:;;Early 1800s (1811 – 1886)
  • Country of Birth:;;Hungary (Lived in Austria and France as a boy.)
  • Career:;;Mixture of “worldy and priestly”; ;travelled internationally; ;participated in religious studes and took “minor orders”; actively pursued women and relationships; aspired to make piano sound like Paganini; had the first complete solo recital; became a full-time conducting

Franz Liszt

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Claim to Fame

  • Achievements:;;Paganini of the piano; set new expectations for piano technique; first solo recital; harmonic experimentation
  • Innovation: ;Symphonic Poem (Many character pieces.)

Franz Liszt

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Style

  • High technical demands.
  • Great variety of expression and contrast (e.g., extremely soft, lyrical, legato to loud, poweful, marcato.)
  • Irregular Phrasing
  • Polyrhythm
  • Tempo Rubato
  • Wide Intervals

Clara Schumann

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  • Birth:;;Early 1800s (1819 – 1896)
  • Country of Birth:;;Leipzig, Germany
  • Career:;;Began composing at age 11; performed concerts even after marriage and 8 kids; taught piano at Leipzig conservatory
  • Claim to Fame:;;One of first women to have successful international career as concert pianist.

Felix Mendelssohn

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Life/Career

  • Birth:;;Early 1800s (1809 – 1847)
  • Country of Birth:;;Germany
  • Earning a Living:;;Father was authoritarian; allowed for early compositional experiences in life; studied the works of J. S. Bach; organized Choir to meet weekly and sing his music

Felix Mendelssohn

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Claim to Fame

  • Achievement:;;The leading German composer in the second quarter of the 19th century
  • Influence:;;Independent program overtures; first to use baton for instrumental conducting

Felix Mendelssohn

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Style

  • Proportion and balance.
  • “Elfin” Style
  • Program Overture
  • Largely Diatonic
  • Variety of tone color and excellent orchestration
  • Very restrained, classically.
  • Tuneful
  • Some sudden shifts in dynamics.

Hector Berlioz

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Life/Career

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  • Birth:;;Born in the early 1800s ;(1803 – 1869)
  • Country of Birth:;;France
  • Earning a Living:;;Had conflicting parental ideology (conservative Catholic mother v. liberal, secular father); took flute and guitar lessons; self-trained in harmony (read Rameau’s treatise); started Medical degree trainng at father’s wishes; later entered Paris Conservatory; ;became infatuated with Harriet Smithson; won Prix de Rome;;studied in Italy; made his living as a music critic; became a virtuoso conductor; published a treatise on orchestration.

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Hector Berlioz

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Claim to Fame

  • Achivements: ;Published treatise on orchestration; important music critic.
  • Influences:;;Wrote in “hybrid genres.”

Hector Berlioz

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Style

  • Importance of programmatic associations or stories
  • Importance of instrumental color.
  • Inclusion of previously unimportant instruments (e.g., harp)
  • Recurring and transforming themes
  • Free counterpoint
  • Classical Harmonic language.

Gioachino Rossini

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Life/Career

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  • Birth:;;Born Late 1700s (1792 – 1868)
  • Country of Birth:;;Italy
  • Country of Career:;;Between France and Italy
  • Earning a Living: ;Began career as Opera composer; wrote about 37 operas in 20 years; recieved world-wide popularity; moved to Paris; composed last masterpiece “William Tell”; lived in semi-retirement, going back and forth between Italy and France

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Gioachino Rossini

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Claim to Fame

  • Achievements:;;Most prominent Italian composer in early 19th century; most important work and development in Opera Buffa; greatest work was William Tell.
  • Influences:;;Rossini crescendo; development of Opera Buffa

Gioachino Rossini

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Style

  • Patter style
  • Accompanimental orchestra
  • Sometimes, utilizes traditional basso.
  • Wrote our vocal ornamentation.
  • Rossini Crescendo

Fanny Hensel

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  • Birth:;;Early 1800s (1805 – 1847)
  • Country of Birth:;;Germany
  • Career:;;Composed first piece at age 14; family discouraged her from publishing, wasn’t respectable from a woman of her social class
  • Importance:  Composed many partsongs, lieder, and piano pieces.

Carl Maria von Weber

 

Life/Career

 

  • Birth:  Late 1700s.  (1786 – 1826)
  • Country of Birth:  Germany
  • Career:  Virtuoso pianist; had a hand rage of a 12th; Established a German romantic opera; worked as a theatre director;  unifcation of all the arts in opera productions