Final Exam Take Home Essay Cynthia Laser 16 December 2013 This essay will include an introduction, and then use examples of works from Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven to discuss the historical significance and evolution of the six genres of the Viennese Classical Style. L. The String Quartet; II. The Symphony and the Symphony Orchestra; Ill. Sonata; IV. The Concerto; V. Serenade This essay will also describe the four forms found in the four-movement symphony.
Sonata allegro; Ternary; Theme and Variations; Rondo Introduction The social and political scene during the late 18th century was hardly a setting for a diet, composed classical age in view of the main revolutionary spirit and imposing rivalry. The revolutionary movement did have a direct effect on music in that music became a new ideal, music that directly attracted a large class of unsophisticated people who had previously been excluded from courtly entertainment.
The French obsession with lightness, gracefulness and decoration was offset by the brutal German affinity for drama and tears as expressed in the Strum undo Drug (storm and stress) In the arts of the time. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn and young Ludwig van Beethoven Inspired the changes In musical style that extinguished the Classical era from the Baroque. The orchestra and chamber groups such as the string quintet and the piano became consistent with the organization of the musical forms of sonata allegro.
In the middle of the 18th century, Europe began to move toward a new style In architecture, literature, and the arts, generally known as Classicism. The new style was also a cleaner style-?one that favored form and balance, and symmetrical design, and in this era the orchestra size increased. There were changes In technology and science, and the middle class started to rise In Importance through the business class. The middle class also desired to make music in their homes. Domestic music-making centered on a new instrument, the pianoforte.
It was called this because unlike the harpsichord it could play at more than one dynamic level. The rise of opera and public concerts was akin to an attending a movie, with a plot and storyline. What Is Imaginably most Innovative aspect about Classical music is its ability to rapidly change and endlessly fluctuate. The melodic style and texture can vary within a few short bars, and composers began to call for crescendos and diminuendos. This all created a new sense of determination and drama. The melodies they wrote tended to be more motivating, tuneful and short, with patterns of harmony that clearly established a tonal center.
There were sing able melodies and antecedent-consequent expressions blended 1 OFF melody with Alberta bass and lively repeated rhythmic chords. Counterpoint was often reserved for the development sections of works in the sonata form, which were steeped in grace, simplicity, order and balance. W. A. Mozart : String Quartet in G major Cloche #387 (for 2 violins, viola and cello) l. The String Quartet No. 14 in G major, K. 387, nicknamed the “Spring” quartet, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782 while in Vienna when Mozart was around 26 years old.
This is the first of the Haydn Quartets, a set of six string quartets he wrote during his first few years in Vienna in honor of Joseph Haydn, who he viewed as a master of the string quartet form. The String quartet is chamber music performed in salons. The Spring quartet has four movements: 1. A moderately quick tempo Allegro vice assai 2. Monument- a minuet 3. Flowing and kinglike Andante cantabile, in C major 4. Quick, lively tempo Molt allegro Even in the Monument, all four movements the Spring quartet is ruled by sonata- allegro form. The string quartet is like a conversation among intelligent people.
I will break down the finale movement: Molt Allegro in sonata allegro form. The finale of Mozart String Quartet is written in sonata allegro form, its exposition is made of equal parts polyphonic fugue and homophobic melody with accompaniment. It mixes the ancient baroque learn-deed style and the fashionable enlightened style, which Mozart easily mixed into an exciting complexity with relaxing ease. The reintroduction of polyphony as a tribute to the progressive sonata form is one of the key events in achieving the effortless, conversational blend that Mozart made for this retreat.
It was also, in recognition of Hoyden’s being renowned as the Father of the String Quartet and his contribution to the evolution of the sonata form. Each of the two thematic areas of the sonata includes both a short fugal and an accompanied theme. The fugal contains four colors of voices with a presentation of a subject in imitation in each part and continues with modulating passages of free counterpoint and further appearances of the subject. The second thematic area even combines the first and second fugal subjects into a double fugal. The development begins
Ninth yet another fugal based on a new, third theme. It has a Molt Allegro drive, Inch has an elaborate sparkle and contrapuntal stateliness. In the Spring Quartet finale, we might expect a conclusion of awesome power. Instead, Mozart ends with subtle, delicate finesse, quietly ending the final statement of the first fugal subject as if he were whispering the simple solution to a perplexing but delightful riddle. Nile he highlights the contrapuntal riches of the fresh, but now ripe quartet form, Mozart at the same time demonstrates two other key features of the genre: humor and intimacy.
II. Mozart Symphony No. 40 3rd Movement K. 550 known as the “Great G minor symphony,” to distinguish it from the “Little G minor symphony,” No. 25. The symphony is scored for flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, and strings. Mozart was preparing to hold a series of three ‘Concerts in the Casino”, in a new casino in the Spillages. The larger public hall accommodated more people and that’s where the money was. Mozart famous Symphony in G minor involved all the full instrumental sound and texture control and virtuosity the late-eighteenth-century orchestra could create.
This was not a elaborately work (hence no trumpets and drums), but rather a powerfully gloomy Nor that suggests heartbreak and despair. This was one of the last three symphonies that Mozart and composed in the span of six weeks during the summer of 1788. Mozart chose the thoughtful heart-breaking key of G minor that echoed a lifetime of disappointments and an omen of an early death, three years later. The Nor is in four movements, in the usual arrangement for a classical-style symphony: 1. A fast basic Molt allegro, 2/2 2.
A slow tender Andante in E-flat major, 6/8 3. An elegant minuet and trio: Monument. Allegretto – Trio, 3/4 4. A bright Finale. Allegro assai, 2/2 Every movement but the third is in sonata form; the minuet and trio are in the usual ternary form. Each minuet is in binary form while the movement as a whole is in ternary form. Tempo is allegretto (slightly slower than allegro). I will break down the third movement: Monument. Allegretto – Trio, 3/4. The minuet and trio form Monument Allegretto was a dance borrowed from the Baroque period.
The distinctly gentle trio section, in G major, alternates the playing of the string section with that of the winds. Rhea minuet and trio form divides the movement into three sections with different eyes and dynamics. The minuet section is played forte and in a minor key, while the trio is piano and in a major key. The minor key in the first section of the minuet contrasts with the major key at the start of the second part. During this movement, there is an abundant use of structure and imitation. The tempo remains allegretto during the whole movement.
The motion of the melody is wide-range in scope, and arranged in regular intervals. The movement begins in a G minor tonality and then changes to G major. The texture remains homophobic throughout the complete movement. In the trio, there is a clear contrast in the instrumentation, with the Nodding section being used on its own during the first section. The shape of the movement is a A: I BIB Ill. Piano Sonata No. 30 (Beethoven) A performance lasts about twenty minutes, of which the third movement takes more Intricate harmony.
Throughout the history of music, there has been ideas and speculation about the appeal of the individual keys. In Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 30, E major (often described as bright and radiant) and E minor (sad, lamenting) often appear together. The combination seems to soften both the light and the dark aspects of the music. The three movements of this sonata played in a salon or chamber are: 1. Not too much: Vice ma non troop / Adagio expressive, E major, 2/4 time 2. In as fast a tempo as possible – Primitivism, E minor, 6/8 time 3. Slow and expressive: Sensational, MIT inserter Unpinning.
Andante molt cantabile deed expressive, E major, 3/4 time. I will break down the third movement in themes and lariats: Sensational, MIT inserter Unpinning. Andante molt cantabile deed expressive, E major, 3/4 time. A In the theme, the emphasis is on the second beat of the bar, giving this binary leitmotif something of the character of a dance. It’s raucous, serious feel is supported by emphasis on the tonic E. AY Variation 1 Irish variation keeps the tempo of the theme and is well adapted to piano playing. Rhea melody is an octave higher, and thereby becomes more passionate.
It is formed like a ceremonial Waltz, with its ornamentation and terraced dynamics. AY Variation This variation is marked illegitimate (readily do so). Three variations are assembled and presented as one. The first texture is an antecedent and consequent phrase, Inch strongly recalls the beginning of the first movement. The second is a two-voice canon over a steady eighth note accompaniment. The two textures are then combined to form a third texture, with alternating sixteenth notes between the left and right hands, as in the beginning, with a steady eighth note choral pulse as in the second part.
AY Variation 5 allegro ma non troop (cheerful but not too much) Rhea driving rhythmic energy of the fifth variation gives the impression of a complex, many-voiced Chorale-like fugue. AY Variation 6 tempo primp del team (first time theme) In exciting contrast to the energy and speed of the previous variation, this lariat begins with a four-bar cantabile passage, in quiet, slow odd fanciful, Unmusical notions under the tempo of the theme. Its peaceful, fixed appeal is underscored by the repeated, rhythmic note in the top voice.
As the sonata progresses to its conclusion, Beethoven intensifies almost every musical constraint to the extreme. The final sixteen bars repeat the simple theme – Just as if nothing had happened. IV. The Concerto; Mozart, Horn Concerto, K. 495, Ill Between 1783 and 1787, Mozart finished three horn concertos. He began composing fourth concerto, KICK, during the last summer of his life but only succeeded in finishing the first movement and part of the finale by the time of his death in 1791. Didn’t been developed yet. The concerto is presented as a contest between horn soloist and orchestra.
As the orchestra grew in size, concertos were reserved for concert halls. The Horn Concerto by Mozart is a major part of a professional horn players’ repertoire. The concertos were written for his friend he had known since Childhood, Joseph Lettuce. Lettuce was clearly an accomplished player, as the works are demanding to perform on the natural horn of the period, requiring lip trills, much hand-stopping and rapid tonguing. The work is in three movements: 1 . Moderately fast: Allegro moderate . Slow: Romance (Andante) 3.
Fast: Rondo (Allegro vice) 6/8 will break down the third movement Rondo (Allegro vice) 6/8 which is the closing movement. In rondo form, a principal theme sometimes called the “refrain” alternates with one or more contrasting themes, generally called “episodes. ” In the Horn concerto, the theme evokes a consequent horn and alternates an antecedent orchestra reply that is then repeated. Episode 81, 82 and 83 transition back to the refrain which is again repeated. A third episode arrives in a C theme in a solemn minor key which again translates into the refrain.
The B episode development phase of 81, 82 and 83 closes with a brief horn pause in the cadenza, then back to the refrain. The final coda recalls memories of the refrain and descends with brilliant directors horn arpeggios. V. Serenade Mozart Nine Klein Machinists (Serenade No. 13 For Strings In G) K. 525 Performed outdoor in four movements in Sonata Allegro form. I. Allegro II. Romance: Andante Ill. Monument: Allegretto IV. Rondo: Allegro Rhea mood of the Serenade or divertimento is most often light-hearted, because of this it is played at social functions, and it is generally composed for a small ensemble.
This serenade is purely instrumental, written for a special occasion such as those commissioned by the elite aristocracy. Nine Klein Machinists, is uncharacteristic for a serenade as it only contains string instruments. The third movement, minuet and trio mark the formal divisions between the ternary form of the minuet and the thinner texture of the trio. The serenade was often reserved for open-air entertainment in outdoor gardens. A serenade can be considered somewhat like a Symphony, but with a light and romantic feeling – casual and without too many overly dramatic moments.