Grout Outline
188
i Table of Contents Music in Ancient Greek Life and Thought................................................................... 1 Music and Religion.............................................................................................. 1 Instruments and Greek Music .............................................................................. 1 Characteristics of Greek Music ............................................................................ 1 Greek Musical Though ........................................................................................ 1 Roman Art Music ................................................................................................ 2 Roman Chant and Liturgy............................................................................................ 5 History of Chant .................................................................................................. 5 Divine Office or Canonical Hours........................................................................ 5 Mass .................................................................................................................... 5 Tropes and Sequences.......................................................................................... 7 Drama.................................................................................................................. 7 Medieval Music Theory ....................................................................................... 8 Nonliturgical and Secular Monody............................................................................... 9 Early Secular Genres ........................................................................................... 9 Secular Musicians of the Middle Ages ............................................................... 10 Medieval Instrumental Music and Instruments ................................................... 11 Early Polyphony .......................................................................................................... 12 Historical Backgrounds, 1000-1200 ................................................................... 12 The Earliest Polyphony...................................................................................... 12 Eleventh-Century Organum ............................................................................... 12 Aquitanian Polyphony (early 12 th century) ......................................................... 13 Notre Dame Polyphony ..................................................................................... 13 Léonin ............................................................................................................... 14 Pérotin’s Organum Compositions ...................................................................... 14 Music of the Thirteenth Century ................................................................................ 15 Polyphonic Conductus ....................................................................................... 15 The Early Motet (to 1280) ................................................................................. 15 The Franconian Motet........................................................................................ 16 The Petronian Motet .......................................................................................... 16 Other Late Thirteenth-Century Developments.................................................... 16 The Ars Nova in France .............................................................................................. 16 Historical Background ....................................................................................... 16 Ars Nova ........................................................................................................... 17 Early Ars Nova Music ....................................................................................... 17 Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377) ............................................................. 17 Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame (Mass of Our Lady) ....................................... 18 Italian Music in the Fourteenth Century ................................................................... 19 Historical Background ....................................................................................... 19 Madrigal ............................................................................................................ 19 Caccia................................................................................................................ 19 Ballata ............................................................................................................... 19 Francesco Landini (ca. 1325-1397) .................................................................... 20 Late 14 th -Century Italian Style ........................................................................... 20
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Transcript of Grout Outline
i
Table of Contents
Music in Ancient Greek Life and Thought................................................................... 1
Music and Religion.............................................................................................. 1
Instruments and Greek Music .............................................................................. 1
Characteristics of Greek Music ............................................................................ 1
Greek Musical Though ........................................................................................ 1
Roman Art Music ................................................................................................ 2
Roman Chant and Liturgy............................................................................................ 5
History of Chant .................................................................................................. 5
Divine Office or Canonical Hours........................................................................ 5
Mass.................................................................................................................... 5
Tropes and Sequences.......................................................................................... 7
Drama.................................................................................................................. 7
Medieval Music Theory....................................................................................... 8
Nonliturgical and Secular Monody............................................................................... 9
Early Secular Genres ........................................................................................... 9
Secular Musicians of the Middle Ages............................................................... 10
Medieval Instrumental Music and Instruments................................................... 11
Early Polyphony.......................................................................................................... 12
Historical Backgrounds, 1000-1200................................................................... 12
The Earliest Polyphony...................................................................................... 12
Eleventh-Century Organum ............................................................................... 12
Aquitanian Polyphony (early 12th century)......................................................... 13
Notre Dame Polyphony ..................................................................................... 13
Léonin ............................................................................................................... 14
Pérotin’s Organum Compositions ...................................................................... 14
Music of the Thirteenth Century................................................................................ 15
Polyphonic Conductus ....................................................................................... 15
The Early Motet (to 1280) ................................................................................. 15
The Franconian Motet........................................................................................ 16
The Petronian Motet .......................................................................................... 16
Other Late Thirteenth-Century Developments.................................................... 16
The Ars Nova in France.............................................................................................. 16
Historical Background ....................................................................................... 16
Ars Nova ........................................................................................................... 17
Early Ars Nova Music ....................................................................................... 17
Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377) ............................................................. 17
Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame (Mass of Our Lady) ....................................... 18
Italian Music in the Fourteenth Century ................................................................... 19
Historical Background ....................................................................................... 19
Madrigal ............................................................................................................ 19
Caccia................................................................................................................ 19
Ballata ............................................................................................................... 19
Francesco Landini (ca. 1325-1397) .................................................................... 20
Late 14th
-Century Italian Style ........................................................................... 20
ii
Instrumental Music ............................................................................................ 20
French Music of the Late Fourteenth Century.......................................................... 20
Rhythm.............................................................................................................. 20
Notation............................................................................................................. 21
Musical Instruments .......................................................................................... 22
English Music .............................................................................................................. 22
General Features................................................................................................ 22
English Music in the Fourteenth Century........................................................... 22
English Music in the Fifteenth Century.............................................................. 23
John Dunstable (ca. 1390-1453)......................................................................... 23
Carol ................................................................................................................. 23
Music in Burgundian Lands ....................................................................................... 24
Historical Background ....................................................................................... 24
Guillaume Dufay ............................................................................................... 24
Burgundian Genres ............................................................................................ 24
Characteristics of Burgundian Music ................................................................. 24
Burgundian Chanson ......................................................................................... 25
Sacred Music in Burgundian Style ..................................................................... 25
The Cantus Firmus Mass ................................................................................... 26
The Renaissance .......................................................................................................... 26
Historical Background ....................................................................................... 26
Application of Ancient Greek Theory to Polyphony (ca. 1450-1600) ................. 27
The Renaissance Period ..................................................................................... 27
Johannes Ockeghem (ca. 1420-1497)................................................................. 28
Jacob Obrecht (1457 or 1458-1506)................................................................... 28
The Chanson...................................................................................................... 29
Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450s-1521) ..................................................................... 29
Other Composers of Josquin’s Generation ......................................................... 30
The Franco-Flemish Generation (1520-1550) ............................................................ 31
General Stylistic Features .................................................................................. 31
Nicolas Gombert................................................................................................ 31
Joacobus Clemens (ca. 1510-1556, aka Clemens non Papa) ............................... 31
Adrian Willaert (ca. 1490-1562) ........................................................................ 32
Secular Song in Italy ................................................................................................... 32
Italy................................................................................................................... 33
Frottola.............................................................................................................. 33
Lauda ................................................................................................................ 33
Madrigal ............................................................................................................ 33
Early Madrigal Style.......................................................................................... 34
The Petrarchan Movement ................................................................................. 34
Other Developments in Madrigals...................................................................... 35
Later Madrigalists.............................................................................................. 35
Concerto della Donne ........................................................................................ 35
Madrigal Composition at the End of the Sixteenth Century................................ 36
Other Kinds of Part-Song in Sixteenth-Century Italy ......................................... 36
iii
Secular Song Outside of Italy ..................................................................................... 36
France................................................................................................................ 37
Musique Mesurée .............................................................................................. 38
Germany............................................................................................................ 38
Spain and the Villancico .................................................................................... 39
Eastern Europe .................................................................................................. 39
England and English Madrigals ......................................................................... 39
English Lute Songs............................................................................................ 40
Consort Songs ................................................................................................... 41
The Rise of Instrumental Music ................................................................................. 41
Historical Background ....................................................................................... 41
Instruments........................................................................................................ 41
Instrumental Arrangements of Vocal Works ...................................................... 42
Compositions Modeled on Vocal Genres ........................................................... 42
Preludes and Other Introductory Pieces.............................................................. 43
Dance Music...................................................................................................... 44
Variations, Improvised on a Tune to Accompany Dancing................................. 44
Music of the Reformation ........................................................................................... 45
Historical Background ....................................................................................... 45
The German Mass.............................................................................................. 45
The Lutheran Chorale ........................................................................................ 46
The Chorale Motet............................................................................................. 46
Reformation Church Music Outside Germany.................................................... 46
England in the Sixteenth Century (before the separation 1534) .......................... 47
Anglican Church Music ..................................................................................... 48
Catholic Music at the End of the Sixteenth Century ................................................. 48
The Counter-Reformation.................................................................................. 48
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 or 1526-1594)........................................ 49
Spain ................................................................................................................. 50
Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) ........................................................................... 51
William Byrd (1543-1623)................................................................................. 52
Characteristics of Baroque Music .............................................................................. 52
The Term Baroque............................................................................................. 52
Baroque Music .................................................................................................. 52
Patronage........................................................................................................... 52
Literature, the Arts, and Sciences....................................................................... 53
The New Musical Idiom .................................................................................... 53
Instrumental Music Developed .......................................................................... 53
Music and the Affections................................................................................... 54
Characteristics of Baroque Music ...................................................................... 54
Early Opera................................................................................................................. 55
Forerunners of Opera......................................................................................... 55
The Role of Greek Theater................................................................................. 55
The Florentine Camerata.................................................................................... 55
The Earliest Operas ........................................................................................... 56
Styles of Monody .............................................................................................. 56
iv
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607)............................................................................. 57
Francesca Caccini (1587-ca. 1640) .................................................................... 58
Opera in Rome................................................................................................... 58
Opera in Venice................................................................................................. 59
Secular Vocal Music.................................................................................................... 60
Strophic Aria Types........................................................................................... 60
Chaconne (chacona, ciaccona) .......................................................................... 60
Passacaglia ........................................................................................................ 60
Concertato Medium ........................................................................................... 60
Monteverdi’s Fifth through Eighth Books of Madrigals (1605-1638) ................. 61
Vocal Solo Music in the Early Seventeenth Century .......................................... 61
Church Music .................................................................................................... 61
Lutheran Church Music ..................................................................................... 63
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)............................................................................. 63
Instrumental Music..................................................................................................... 64
Compositions for Instruments ............................................................................ 64
Categories of Instrumental Compositional Types and Techniques...................... 64
Keyboard Genres ............................................................................................... 64
English Consort Music....................................................................................... 65
Canzona............................................................................................................. 65
Sonata................................................................................................................ 65
Theme and Variations........................................................................................ 66
Dance Music...................................................................................................... 66
The Toccata....................................................................................................... 67
Opera in the Late Seventeenth Century..................................................................... 67
Venice ............................................................................................................... 67
Naples ............................................................................................................... 68
France................................................................................................................ 69
England ............................................................................................................. 71
Germany............................................................................................................ 72
Other Vocal Music ...................................................................................................... 72
Secular Vocal Music in Italy.............................................................................. 72
Song in Other Countries..................................................................................... 73
Church Music .................................................................................................... 73
Italian Church Music ......................................................................................... 73
Catholic Church Music in German-Speaking Countries ..................................... 73
Church Music in France..................................................................................... 74
Anglican Church Music ..................................................................................... 74
Lutheran Church Music (1650-1750) ................................................................. 74
Keyboard Music in the Late Seventeenth Century.................................................... 75
Organ Music in Germany................................................................................... 76
Organ Composition in North Germany .............................................................. 76
Organ Music Based on the Lutheran Chorale..................................................... 77
Organ Music in Catholic Countries.................................................................... 77
Harpsichord and Clavichord Music.................................................................... 77
v
Ensemble Music in the Late Seventeenth Century .................................................... 79
Ensemble Sonatas.............................................................................................. 79
Solo Sonatas ...................................................................................................... 79
Canzona-Sonata................................................................................................. 79
Italian Chamber Music....................................................................................... 79
Ensemble Sonatas Outside Italy......................................................................... 81
The Solo Sonata after Corelli............................................................................. 82
Works for Larger Ensembles ............................................................................. 82
Concerto............................................................................................................ 83
Early Eighteenth Century Music in Italy and France ............................................... 84
Background of Early Eighteenth-Century Music................................................ 84
Italian Music and Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)................................................. 84
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) ................................................................... 86
The Life and Music of J. S. Bach (1685-1750)............................................................ 88
Biographical Background .................................................................................. 88
Bach’s Organ Music .......................................................................................... 88
Music for Harpsichord and Clavichord .............................................................. 89
Other Instrumental Works.................................................................................. 90
The Leipzig Years ............................................................................................. 91
Cantatas............................................................................................................. 91
Other Choral Works........................................................................................... 93
Reception History.............................................................................................. 94
The Life and Music of George Frederic Handel (1985-1795) .................................... 94
Biographical Background .................................................................................. 94
Italian Opera in London..................................................................................... 95
The Oratorio in London ..................................................................................... 95
Instrumental Music ............................................................................................ 95
Handel’s Operas ................................................................................................ 95
Handel’s English Oratorios................................................................................ 96
The Enlightenment...................................................................................................... 97
The Enlightenment ............................................................................................ 97
Aspects of Eighteenth-Century Life................................................................... 98
Terminology for Musical Style in the 1730s and 1740s...................................... 98
New Concepts of Melody, Harmony, and Form................................................. 98
Vocal Music ................................................................................................................. 99
Early Italian Comic Opera ................................................................................. 99
Opera Seria...................................................................................................... 100
Arias................................................................................................................ 100
Comic Opera ................................................................................................... 101
Opera Reform.................................................................................................. 102
Other Vocal Music........................................................................................... 103
Instrumental Music................................................................................................... 104
The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757).............................. 104
The Sonata Form ............................................................................................. 104
Early Symphonies............................................................................................ 105
The Empfindsam Style..................................................................................... 105
vi
German Symphonic Composers....................................................................... 106
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) ................................................................. 106
Orchestral Music in France.............................................................................. 107
The Orchestra in the Eighteenth Century.......................................................... 107
Franz Joseph Haydn ................................................................................................. 107
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ...................................................................................... 112
Early Life ........................................................................................................ 112
Mozart’s Early Influences (to ca. 1773) ........................................................... 112
The Salzburg Years (1774-1781) ..................................................................... 113
Mozart’s Vienna Years (1781-1791)................................................................ 113
Concertos ........................................................................................................ 114
Operas ............................................................................................................. 115
Church Music .................................................................................................. 116
Ludwig van Beethoven.............................................................................................. 116
Biographical Background ................................................................................ 116
Output ............................................................................................................. 116
First Creative Period (to 1802)......................................................................... 117
The Second Creative Period (1802-1815)......................................................... 118
Third Creative Period (1815-1827) .................................................................. 121
Beethoven’s Influence ..................................................................................... 122
Romanticism and Nineteenth-Century Orchestral Music....................................... 122
Romanticism ................................................................................................... 122
Orchestral Music ............................................................................................. 122
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) ............................................................................ 122
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) ............................................................................. 123
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) ...................................................................... 124
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) ........................................................................ 124
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) .................................................................................. 125
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)......................................................................... 125
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)........................................................................... 126
Piotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky (1848-1893) ............................................................ 126
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)........................................................................... 126
Piano Music ............................................................................................................... 127
The Piano ........................................................................................................ 127
The Early Romantic Composers....................................................................... 127
Franz Schubert................................................................................................. 127
Felix Mendelssohn........................................................................................... 128
Robert Schumann ............................................................................................ 128
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) ......................................................................... 129
Franz Liszt....................................................................................................... 130
Johannes Brahms ............................................................................................. 131
Other Composers of Piano Music..................................................................... 131
Chamber Music......................................................................................................... 131
Background ..................................................................................................... 131
Schubert .......................................................................................................... 132
Mendelssohn ................................................................................................... 132
vii
Brahms ............................................................................................................ 132
César Franck.................................................................................................... 132
The Lied..................................................................................................................... 132
The Ballad ....................................................................................................... 132
Schubert .......................................................................................................... 133
Robert Schumann ............................................................................................ 133
Clara Schumann .............................................................................................. 134
Brahms ............................................................................................................ 134
Choral Music ............................................................................................................. 134
Background ..................................................................................................... 134
Part-Songs and Cantatas .................................................................................. 134
Church Music .................................................................................................. 134
Music on Liturgical Texts................................................................................ 134
Italy…. ....................................................................................................................... 135
Italian Opera in the Eighteenth Century ........................................................... 135
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) ....................................................................... 136
Vicenzo Bellini (1801-1835)............................................................................ 137
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)........................................................................ 137
France ........................................................................................................................ 137
Paris ................................................................................................................ 137
Grand Opera .................................................................................................... 138
Comic Opera in France.................................................................................... 138
Berlioz and French Opera ................................................................................ 139
French Lyric Operas ........................................................................................ 139
Georges Bizet .................................................................................................. 139
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)...................................................................................... 139
Background ..................................................................................................... 139
Early Works (to 1871) ..................................................................................... 140
Late Works...................................................................................................... 140
Germany.................................................................................................................... 141
Background ..................................................................................................... 141
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) ................................................................. 141
Other German Composers................................................................................ 142
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and the Music Drama ........................................ 142
The German Tradition.............................................................................................. 144
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) .................................................................................. 144
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)............................................................................. 144
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)............................................................................ 146
Other German Composers................................................................................ 148
New Currents in France............................................................................................ 148
Nationalism in France...................................................................................... 148
The Cosmopolitan Tradition ............................................................................ 148
The French Tradition ....................................................................................... 149
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)........................................................................... 149
Erik Statie (1866-1925) ................................................................................... 150
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) ............................................................................. 150
viii
Other French Composers ................................................................................. 151
Italian Opera ............................................................................................................. 151
Verismo (“realism”) ........................................................................................ 151
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) ......................................................................... 151
The Twentieth Century............................................................................................. 151
Historical Background ..................................................................................... 151
Ethnic Contexts ......................................................................................................... 151
Central Europe................................................................................................. 151
The Soviet Orbit .............................................................................................. 152
England ........................................................................................................... 154
Germany.......................................................................................................... 155
Latin American Nationalist Composers............................................................ 156
Neo-Classicism in France ................................................................................ 156
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)...................................................................................... 157
Biographical Background ................................................................................ 157
Early Works (to 1913) ..................................................................................... 157
Transitional Period .......................................................................................... 157
Neo-Classicism (1923-1951) ........................................................................... 157
Works from the 1950s and 1960s..................................................................... 158
Schoenberg and His Followers.................................................................................. 158
Schoenberg...................................................................................................... 158
Alban Berg (1885-1935) .................................................................................. 160
Anton Webern (1883-1945) ............................................................................. 161
After Webern................................................................................................... 161
Recent Developments ................................................................................................ 162
New Timbers................................................................................................... 162
Electronic Resources ....................................................................................... 162
Influence of Electronic Music .......................................................................... 163
Indeterminacy.................................................................................................. 163
The Historical Background....................................................................................... 164
Music in the Colonies ...................................................................................... 164
Immigration and Its Influences ........................................................................ 164
Music in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries ........................... 165
Brass and Wind Bands..................................................................................... 165
Vernacular Music...................................................................................................... 166
Ragtime (1890s-early 1900s) ........................................................................... 166
Blues ............................................................................................................... 166
Jazz ................................................................................................................. 166
Country Music................................................................................................. 167
Rhythm and Blues ........................................................................................... 167
Rock and Roll.................................................................................................. 167
Musical Comedy (Broadway Musicals) ........................................................... 167
Foundations for an American Art Music ................................................................. 168
Charles Ives (1874-1954)................................................................................. 168
Carl Ruggles (1876-1971)................................................................................ 169
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) .............................................................................. 169
ix
Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) ................................................................. 169
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) ............................................................................. 169
Aaron Copland (1900-1990) ............................................................................ 169
Other National Idioms ..................................................................................... 169
Music After 1945 ....................................................................................................... 170
Abstract Idioms ............................................................................................... 170
The University as Patron.................................................................................. 170
The Post-Webern Vogue.................................................................................. 171
New Sounds and Textures................................................................................ 171
Third Stream.................................................................................................... 172
John Cage and Indeterminacy .......................................................................... 172
Minimalism ..................................................................................................... 173
Composers of More Tonal Music..................................................................... 174
Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 175
Index ................................................................................................................. 176-179
1
Music in Ancient Greek Life and Thought
I. Music and Religion A. Inseparable to ancient Greeks B. Each religious cult was devoted to a particular god or goddess and had its
own characteristic musical styles and instruments II. Instruments of Greek Music
A. Lyre and kithara (both strummed stringed instruments) used in the worship of Apollo and also for singing or recitation of epic poems
B. Aulos (single- or double-reed instrument, usually with two pipes) used in the worship of Dionysys and to accompany dithyrambs, forerunners of Greek dramas, and also in the great tragedies of the classical age
C. Psalteria (plucked string instrument) also used D. Percussion instruments E. Competitions of solo aulos and lyre players were held as early as 582
b.c.e. and instrumentalists became more virtuosic, eventually developing solo careers as recitalists. Women could play stringed instruments at a professional level, but could not compete in competitions
III. Characteristics of Greek Music (NAWM 1, 2) A. Most surviving music comes from relatively late periods and is for voice B. Monophonic texture (melody without harmony or counterpoint) C. Heterophony in performance (instrument embellishing on the melody
while a soloist or unison ensemble sings the same melody) D. Musical rhythm was bound to the rhythm of the poetry
IV. Greek Musical Thought A. There are two main types of theoretical writings: doctrines on the nature of
music, and systematic descriptions of compositional patterns B. Some of the concepts formulated by the ancient Greeks continued to
influence medieval thinkers and musicians C. Doctrines on the nature of music
1. Music and number a. Pythagoras linked pitch relations (intervals) to numerical
ratios. According to the story told by Boethius much later, he discovered this while listening to blacksmiths' hammers (see vignette)
b. Ptolemy was an astronomer who linked musical intervals to the movement of the planets, or the "music of the spheres," the unheard music produced by the movements of the planets
2. Union of music and poetry a. Melos (song): speech plus rhythm and harmony (i.e.,
pitches) according to Plato b. Types of poetry named for types of song (e.g., hymn)
3. Doctrine of Ethos (belief that music possessed moral qualities and could affect character and behavior)
2
a. Aristotle wrote that music imitates emotions (theory of imitation) and that listening to the wrong kind of music could evoke the wrong kinds of emotions
b. Plato and Aristotle both believed that education should include the proper kinds of music to create desirable qualities in citizens
D. Descriptions of musical practices 1. Harmonics: the study of pitch developed by Aristoxenus (ca. 330
b.c.e.) and reworked by Cleonides (ca. 100–400 c.e.) 2. The tetrachord was the basic building block of musical systems.
All tetrachords include four notes spanning a perfect fourth, but each genera (class) of tetrachord has different intervals between the second and third pitches
3. The Greater Perfect System (GPS) results from the linkage of adjacent tetrachords (see HWM example 1.2). Notes were named for the position of their tetrachord within the GPS and from their position within their tetrachord
4. Tonoi (plural of tonos) were terms for melodic types based on geographical regions, such as Dorian, Ionian, and Aeolian. Early theorists disagreed about the nature of each tonos, but Cleonides and Ptolemy agreed on seven types (species), one starting on each step in the octave
5. Consonances were understood in terms of their ratios, as had been discovered by Pythagoras
6. Plato and Aristotle wrote about the emotional characters of the tonoi (harmonia to them, and usually translated as "mode") and associated each with a desirable or undesirable quality while discussing the Doctrine of Ethos
E. Analysis of NAWM 1 and 2 1. Seikiles song from first century c.e. (NAWM 1)
a. Notated with rhythmic notation on a tombstone b. The tonos is what Cleonides called Phrygian, equivalent to
the D-octave on the white keys of the piano 2. Euripides fragment (NAWM 2) from 408 b.c.e.
a. Fragment was possibly composed by Euripides himself for one of his plays
b. Only the middle part of each fragment survives c. The chorus sang this ode in a rhythmic pattern called
dochmiac, associated with intense agitation and grief V. Roman Art Music
A. Came mainly from Greek musical practices B. Brass instruments were used for civic and religious occasions C. Information about festivals, competitions, and virtuosic performance
comes from written documents but no examples survive D. The Roman empire declined gradually and became quite poor by the fifth
century
3
Music in Ancient Greek Life and Thought
I. Music and Religion A. Inseparable to ancient Greeks B. Each religious cult was devoted to a particular god or goddess and had its
own characteristic musical styles and instruments II. Instruments of Greek Music
A. Lyre and kithara (both strummed stringed instruments) used in the worship of Apollo and also for singing or recitation of epic poems
B. Aulos (single- or double-reed instrument, usually with two pipes) used in the worship of Dionysys and to accompany dithyrambs, forerunners of Greek dramas, and also in the great tragedies of the classical age
C. Psalteria (plucked string instrument) also used D. Percussion instruments E. Competitions of solo aulos and lyre players were held as early as 582
b.c.e. and instrumentalists became more virtuosic, eventually developing solo careers as recitalists. Women could play stringed instruments at a professional level, but could not compete in competitions
III. Characteristics of Greek Music (NAWM 1, 2) A. Most surviving music comes from relatively late periods and is for voice B. Monophonic texture (melody without harmony or counterpoint) C. Heterophony in performance (instrument embellishing on the melody
while a soloist or unison ensemble sings the same melody) D. Musical rhythm was bound to the rhythm of the poetry
IV. Greek Musical Thought A. There are two main types of theoretical writings: doctrines on the nature of
music, and systematic descriptions of compositional patterns B. Some of the concepts formulated by the ancient Greeks continued to
influence medieval thinkers and musicians C. Doctrines on the nature of music
1. Music and number a. Pythagoras linked pitch relations (intervals) to numerical
ratios. According to the story told by Boethius much later, he discovered this while listening to blacksmiths' hammers (see vignette)
b. Ptolemy was an astronomer who linked musical intervals to the movement of the planets, or the "music of the spheres," the unheard music produced by the movements of the planets
2. Union of music and poetry a. Melos (song): speech plus rhythm and harmony (i.e.,
pitches) according to Plato b. Types of poetry named for types of song (e.g., hymn)
3. Doctrine of Ethos (belief that music possessed moral qualities and could affect character and behavior)
4
a. Aristotle wrote that music imitates emotions (theory of imitation) and that listening to the wrong kind of music could evoke the wrong kinds of emotions
b. Plato and Aristotle both believed that education should include the proper kinds of music to create desirable qualities in citizens
D. Descriptions of musical practices 1. Harmonics: the study of pitch developed by Aristoxenus (ca. 330
b.c.e.) and reworked by Cleonides (ca. 100–400 c.e.) 2. The tetrachord was the basic building block of musical systems.
All tetrachords include four notes spanning a perfect fourth, but each genera (class) of tetrachord has different intervals between the second and third pitches
3. The Greater Perfect System (GPS) results from the linkage of adjacent tetrachords (see HWM example 1.2). Notes were named for the position of their tetrachord within the GPS and from their position within their tetrachord
4. Tonoi (plural of tonos) were terms for melodic types based on geographical regions, such as Dorian, Ionian, and Aeolian. Early theorists disagreed about the nature of each tonos, but Cleonides and Ptolemy agreed on seven types (species), one starting on each step in the octave
5. Consonances were understood in terms of their ratios, as had been discovered by Pythagoras
6. Plato and Aristotle wrote about the emotional characters of the tonoi (harmonia to them, and usually translated as "mode") and associated each with a desirable or undesirable quality while discussing the Doctrine of Ethos
E. Analysis of NAWM 1 and 2 1. Seikiles song from first century c.e. (NAWM 1)
a. Notated with rhythmic notation on a tombstone b. The tonos is what Cleonides called Phrygian, equivalent to
the D-octave on the white keys of the piano 2. Euripides fragment (NAWM 2) from 408 b.c.e.
a. Fragment was possibly composed by Euripides himself for one of his plays
b. Only the middle part of each fragment survives c. The chorus sang this ode in a rhythmic pattern called
dochmiac, associated with intense agitation and grief V. Roman Art Music
A. Came mainly from Greek musical practices B. Brass instruments were used for civic and religious occasions C. Information about festivals, competitions, and virtuosic performance
comes from written documents but no examples survive D. The Roman empire declined gradually and became quite poor by the fifth
century
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Roman Chant and Liturgy
I. History of Chant A. Only the words (text) of chants were written down until the ninth century B. Transmission was oral, even during the first centuries of notation C. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, monks of the Benedictine Abbey
of Solesmes worked at restoring chant to its medieval style through the study of the oldest chantbooks, and the Liber usualis is one result. It was compiled in the early twentieth century and contains the most commonly used chants
D. The language was Latin, the official language of the Church II. Divine Office, or Canonical Hours
A. Divine Office is a series of eight prayer services observed at specified times daily at convents and cathedrals
B. First codified ca. 520 in the Rule of St. Benedict C. Prayers and psalms are the main focus D. Antiphons are sung with each psalm and vary according to the church
calendar E. Hymns and canticles are also sung (not connected to psalms) F. The most important offices for music are Matins (before daybreak), Lauds
(at sunrise), and Vespers (sunset) G. Egeria, a nun who traveled to Jerusalem in the fourth century, described an
office, probably Matins or Lauds (see vignette in HWM) III. Mass
A. Combines readings from the Bible (Liturgy of the Word) with prayers of thanks and praise and a symbolic reenactment of Christ's Last Supper (Eucharist, or Holy Communion)
B. History of the Mass 1. The liturgy of the Mass was standardized by the late seventh
century 2. In 1570 the Council of Trent reforms changed the liturgy
somewhat, and it remained in this form until the Second Vatican Council changed it again in the 1960s
3. The version from the Council of Trent reforms (Tridentine) is the form used in NAWM
C. Structure of the Mass liturgy 1. Introductory section
a. Kyrie and Gloria (begun by priest and sung by choir) b. Collects and Epistle (prayers and readings sung by priest) c. Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Sequence (sung by soloist or
soloists with responses by the choir) 2. Liturgy of the Word
a. Gospel (readings sung by priest) b. Sermon (optional, spoken by priest) c. Credo (begun by priest and sung by choir)
3. Liturgy of the Eucharist
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a. Offertory (sung by choir during preparation for Communion)
b. Canon (consecration) and Lord's prayer (both sung to formulas)
c. Agnus Dei, Communion (sung by choir before and after Communion, respectively)
d. Post–Communion prayers (sung by priest) e. Ite missa est or Benedicamus Domino (sung by priest with
response by choir) D. Texts of the liturgy
1. Proper texts vary according to the church calendar a. Most of the prayers, all of the readings b. Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Offertory, and
Communion 2. Ordinary texts are the same at every Mass throughout the year
a. Sung by the choir b. Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei
E. Notation 1. Notation for chant today consists of neumes that represent one or
more pitches on a four-line staff 2. Notation originated in the ninth century, with the attempt to unify
the liturgy and chants of the Frankish kingdom. Previously, chant was transmitted orally, either through rote learning or through improvised re-composition based on a shared set of principles
F. Methods of classifying chants 1. Subject (biblical or nonbiblical) 2. Performance practice
a. Antiphonal: sung by alternating choirs b. Responsorial: sung by soloist(s) alternating with a choir c. Direct: no alternation
3. Text-setting style a. Syllabic: one note per syllable b. Melismatic: frequent use of many notes per syllable
(melismas) c. Neumatic: mostly syllabic but with melismas up to five
notes long d. Important words and syllables are often highlighted by
tonic accents (higher pitches or more notes) e. The grammar of the text usually determines the structure of
the melody (John "Cotton" vignette in HWM) G. Psalmody is the singing of psalms (songs) from the Bible. Each psalm is
divided into verses, and each verse within a psalm is sung to the same formula. Antiphons, short phrases or sentences of text with their own melodies, come before and after the psalm and between the verses
1. Psalm tones are formulas for reciting the psalms
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a. One for each of the eight church modes (discussed later) plus one extra formula (Tonus peregrinus)
b. Initium: formula for the beginning of the first verse of the psalm
c. Tenor: reciting pitch, used for the majority of the syllables d. Mediatio: cadence formula for the mid-point of a psalm
verse e. Terminatio: final cadence formula for the end of each
psalm verse (variable) f. Lesser Doxology (Gloria Patri) text added to the end of the
psalm but sung with the same formula g. The terminatio formula is indicated in chantbooks with the
letters EUOUAE, the vowels of the end of the Lesser Doxology (et in secula saEcUlOrUm, AmEn)
2. Antiphonal singing is common (HWM ex. 2.3). Two choirs or two halves of a choir alternate verses of a psalm
3. Antiphon a. A verse or sentence with its own melody b. Most numerous category of chant c. Usually in simple style d. Sung before and after a psalm and between each verse
4. Responsory or Responds a. Short verse sung by a soloist then repeated by the choir b. Precedes prayer or reading c. Repeated at the end of the prayer or reading
IV. Tropes and Sequences A. Tropes: newly composed additions to chants
1. New words and music added 2. New melismas added without text 3. New words added to existing melismas
B. Sequences originated as tropes to Alleluias but became independent pieces 1. Notker Balbulus (ca. 840–912) put words to music at St. Gall (see
vignette) 2. The sequence was a popular compositional type in the tenth
through thirteenth centuries 3. Prosa: the text for a sequence 4. Form of the sequence: a bb cc dd . . . x
C. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) 1. Nun in Germany 2. Composed both melodies and words of sequences and other chants 3. Freer form than in sequences composed in France or Switzerland
V. Drama A. Liturgical dramas
1. Early liturgical dramas originated as tropes to the introit 2. Example: NAWM 3a, Quem quaeritis in praesepe
a. Whom do you seek in the Manger?
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b. Dialogue and acting preceding the third Mass of Christmas Day
B. Morality plays 1. Sacred but not part of the liturgy 2. Example: NAWM 6, Hildegard of Bingen's Ordo Virtutum
a. All parts (except Devil) sung in plainchant b. Characters are allegorical
VI. Medieval Music Theory A. Practical issues were more important than theoretical elegance in the
treatises of the Middle Ages because of the amount of chant that singers (monks and nuns, priests and bishops, and students) had to learn and perform
1. Boethius continued to be the main source of Greek theory, but authors adapted his writings to accommodate issues of concern to them
2. Most music teaching was done at monasteries or cathedrals, so only religious music was discussed in treatises
3. Many treatises were aimed at students who needed to learn the rules for singing in monasteries and cathedrals
4. Theoretical ideas came from the need to help students learn, memorize, and read chants
B. The church modes are part of a pitch classification system that became finalized in the eleventh century. This system was used for classifying existing chants, which often do not fit the theory precisely
1. There are eight modes, two each on four "finals." a. The four finals are D, E, F, G b. Authentic modes had their range above their final c. Plagal modes had their range above and below their finals,
making them about a perfect fourth below their authentic counterparts
d. The modes are numbered, with authentic modes having odd numbers and their plagal counterpart the next higher number (e.g., the authentic D mode is 1, the plagal D mode is 2, etc.)
2. Tenor: second characteristic tone of each mode a. In authentic modes the tenor is a perfect fifth above the
final b. In plagal modes the tenor is a third below the final of the
corresponding authentic mode, but when the resulting pitch is a B, the tenor is C
3. The only flatted pitch used at the time was B-flat and there were no raised pitches.
4. In the tenth century some theorists applied the Greek modal names to the church modes, but they are the same in name only
C. Solmization: a system for teaching sight-singing 1. Guido of Arezzo (ca. 1025) proposed syllables to represent pitches
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2. The hymn Ut queant laxis starts each phrase one step higher than the previous phrase, so its syllables were used
3. Ut = C, re = D, mi = E, fa = F, sol = G, la = A (B does not figure in this system)
4. The semitone always comes between mi and fa D. The hexachord system evolved from the solmization system of Guido.
Each hexachord is identical in interval pattern, but each starts on a different pitch
1. The natural hexachord is the one used by Guido: C–D–E–F–G–A 2. The soft hexachord includes a B-flat: F–G–A–B-flat–C–D 3. The hard hexachord includes a B natural: G–A–B–C–D–E 4. These hexachords overlapped over the range of usable pitches
a. The lowest note used was a G, or gamma (written as G) in the lowest hexachord
b. The highest was e, or Ut in the highest hexachord c. The range of usable pitches was called "gamut." This name
comes from the two names for the lowest pitch, Gamma and ut
5. Moving from one hexachord to another is called "mutation." 6. The Guidonian hand: Assigning notes to parts of the hand helped
students learn their intervals E. Notation
1. The earliest notation (by ca. 850) placed neumes above words in chantbooks
2. Tenth-century chantbooks put the neumes at different heights to indicate relative pitches (heighted, or diastematic, neumes)
3. Late tenth-century chantbooks use a red line to indicate the pitch f, and later a yellow line was added to represent c
4. By Guido's time lines for f, c, and g were common (ancestors of modern clefs)
5. The final form of chant notation is similar to that found in NAWM examples 3 and 4
Nonliturgical and Secular Monody
I. Early Secular Genres A. Goliard songs
1. Eleventh–twelfth centuries 2. Sung by students who wandered from school to school before the
founding of universities 3. Texts in Latin, about wine, women, satire 4. Only found in staffless notation in a few manuscripts 5. Carmina Burana texts are from these songs
B. Conductus 1. Eleventh–thirteenth centuries 2. These pieces may have been used to "conduct" clerics from place
to place in liturgical dramas or in church 3. Texts are serious, nonliturgical, with metrical form, in Latin
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4. Subjects sacred or secular 5. Melody is newly composed, not borrowed from chant
C. Chanson de Geste: song of deeds 1. Epic narratives about deeds of national heroes 2. Transmitted orally in the vernacular
a. Songs are sung to formulas b. The music has not been preserved c. Texts were not written down until relatively late
3. Most famous chanson de geste is the Song of Roland, the national epic of France
II. Secular Musicians of the Middle Ages A. Jongleurs (also ménestrels or minstrels)
1. Professional musicians beginning in the tenth century 2. Wandered from village to village or castle to castle 3. Both vocalists and instrumentalists 4. Organized themselves into guilds in the thirteenth century 5. Sang and played music composed by others
B. Troubadours and trouvères: inventors of song 1. Troubadours flourished in southern France, speaking langue d'oc
(Occitan), also called Provençal. About 2,600 of their poems and fewer than three hundred melodies have been preserved
2. Trouvères flourished in northern France, speaking langue d'oïl, the language that became modern French. About 2,130 of their poems and two-thirds of their melodies have been preserved
3. Both troubadours and trouvères flourished in aristocratic circles, and some were aristocratic themselves
4. All wrote their own songs, and some sang them as well 5. Their songs were preserved in collections called chansonniers
C. Genres of troubadour and trouvère songs 1. Dance songs, often with a refrain for a chorus of dancers 2. Love songs, especially by the troubadours 3. Debating songs 4. Political or moral songs 5. Religious songs (mostly by the trouvères, and from later periods) 6. Musical plays
a. Based on pastoral poems (pastourelles) b. Adam de la Halle's Jeu de Robin et Marion (ca. 1284) is the
most famous 7. NAWM 8, Robins m'aime
a. From Jeu de Robin et Marion b. Rondeau form, using refrains ABabAB
8. NAWM 9, Can vei la lauzeta mover a. By Bernart de Ventadorn, a troubadour b. Text is in Provençal (Occitan) c. Subject is a man's love for an unattainable woman, typical
of troubadour love songs
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D. Melodic style of troubadour and trouvère songs 1. Text setting: syllabic with some short melismas 2. Narrow range (less than an octave) 3. Embellishments may have been added in performance 4. Rhythm is unknown because chansonniers did not notate any
rhythm. In the past scholars disagreed about rhythmic interpretation, and modern editions usually do not indicate rhythm or meter
5. NAWM 10, A Chantar a. Canso (strophic song) by Beatriz de DiaError! Bookmark
not defined. in twelfth century b. Text setting is syllabic c. The form includes a refrain
E. Secular song in Germany 1. Minnesinger flourished in twelfth through fourteenth centuries, and
sang of love (minne) in strophic songs with melodic repetitions 2. Meistersinger (portrayed by Wagner in the opera of the same
name) in the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. The most famous of these was Hans Sachs, who composed Nachdem David war (NAWM 11) in bar form: aab
F. Secular song outside of Germany and France 1. England: few songs survive, but there was probably a rich tradition
of song 2. Spain: ca. 1250–80 manuscript preserves cantigas, songs of praise
to the Virgin Mary in style similar to troubadour songs 3. Italy: laude, songs for religious penitents in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries III. Medieval Instrumental Music and Instruments
A. Dance forms 1. Estampie
a. Surviving examples come from England and the Continent (France)
b. Texture could be monophonic or polyphonic c. Structure was based on repeated sections (puncta) with
open and closed cadences 2. Istampita
a. Italy's version of the estampie b. Fourteenth century c. Structure is the same as estampie form d. NAWM 12
B. Musical instruments of medieval Europe probably came from the Middle East via Byzantium or the Moorish occupation of Spain. Terminology and history of each are vague
1. Harp came from Ireland and Britain 2. Vielle, bowed string instrument (Fiedel in German); ancestor of
viols and the violin family; often depicted in jongleurs' hands
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3. Organistrum, played by turning a crank that rubbed a wheel against three strings; large ones used in churches
4. Psaltery, a zither played by plucking or striking the strings 5. Lute, a plucked string instrument brought to Spain by Moors but
not disseminated to the rest of Europe until the Renaissance 6. Wind instruments included types of flutes, reed instruments, and
trumpets played by tower watchmen 7. Organ
a. Portative organs were carried and could be played by a single person while holding it
b. Positive organs were placed on tables and needed two people for performance
Early polyphony
I. Historical Background, 1000–1200 A. Europe's economy prospered due to land reclamation B. Crusades united the ruling families of Christian Europe C. Translations of Greek and Arabic books into Latin ushered in a cultural
revival D. The first universities developed in Paris, Oxford, and Bologna E. The Christian Church split into eastern and western factions F. Developments in musical notation freed composers from a reliance on rote
learning and allowed more complex music II. The Earliest Polyphony
A. Polyphony is defined as music in which separate voices sing together, not in unison or octaves but as diverging parts
B. Singers probably improvised polyphony and heterophony (embellishment of a melody) long before polyphony was first notated
C. Musica enchiriadis (Music Handbook) 1. Anonymous treatise from the ninth century 2. Paired with Scolica enchiriadis (Excerpts from Handbooks) in
dialogue form 3. Describes two types of early organum
a. Parallel motion: Duplication of a plainsong melody (vox principalis) a perfect fourth or fifth below by an organal voice (vox organalis); with duplication of either voice at the octave possible (HWM 3.2)
b. Oblique motion: The organal voice remaining on the same pitch in order to avoid tritones against the principal voice (HWM 3.3)
III. Eleventh-Century Organum A. Micrologus of Guido of Arezzo (ca. 1025–1028) includes examples in
which voices converge at the ends of phrases from a third to a unison B. Vox organalis usually sings above the vox principalis C. The two voice parts often cross D. Perfect consonances (unison, octave, fourth, and fifth) continue to be
favored; other intervals occur incidentally and infrequently
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E. The Winchester Troper is the earliest known practical source (i.e., not a treatise) but its voices are notated in unheighted neumes without staff lines, so that only pieces that also occur in later manuscripts can be reconstructed
F. Soloists sang polyphony during parts of the Mass and Divine Office that normally would have been sung by soloists in plainchant
G. NAWM 13, Alleluia. Justus ut palma, ca. 1100 1. This example comes from a treatise on how to make organum 2. Polyphony is mostly note-against-note 3. Both contrary and parallel motion are used 4. Organal voice sometimes crosses below chant melody 5. The penultimate notes of both phrases of chant (Alleluia and et
sicut cedrus) set in polyphony are embellished with melismas in the organal voice
6. Cadences resolve either from a third to a unison or from a sixth to an octave
IV. Aquitanian Polyphony (early twelfth century) A. Surviving manuscripts
1. Some of the manuscripts come from the Abbey of St. Martial in Aquitaine, leading earlier scholars to call this music St. Martial polyphony
2. One source comes from northern Spain B. Florid organum (organum duplum, organum purum)
1. Chant melody a. Sung in long notes b. Tenor: voice that sustains or holds the chant
2. Organal voice a. Florid melody b. Many notes for each note of the chant melody
3. Rhythm not indicated by notation C. Discant organum: note-against-note texture D. Texts
1. Tropes of the Benedicamus Domino 2. Sequences 3. Versus
a. Rhyming, accentual Latin poems b. Newly written, not from the liturgy or the Bible
E. NAWM 14, Jubilemus, exultemus 1. Text is newly written (i.e., not from plainchant), rhymed and
metrical 2. Musical rhythm was not notated 3. Consonances mark the ends of lines 4. Dissonances seem to have been used purely for variety 5. Some lines seem to be in discant style (e.g., Deum laudet)
V. Notre Dame Polyphony
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A. Paris was a flourishing commercial and intellectual center in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries
1. Notre Dame Cathedral was the employer of the two earliest named composers of polyphony, Léonin and Pérotin
2. The polyphonic style that developed in Paris spread to other parts of Europe
B. The rhythmic modes 1. Six rhythmic patterns were indicated by combinations of neumes
(HWM, ex. 3.7) 2. The patterns correspond roughly to poetic meters 3. The basic unit was the perfection, which could be divided into
three VI. Léonin (refer to Anonymous IV vignette in HWM)
A. Compiled the Magnus Liber Organi (Great Book of Organum) 1. Organum settings of solo portions of responsorial chants for Mass
and Office 2. Only major feasts, such as Easter, used organum 3. The original version of the Magnus Liber does not survive
B. Léonin composed works in both organum purum and discant organum styles
C. NAWM 15b, Alleluia. Pascha nostrum 1. First Alleluia, in organum purum, for soloists
a. Unmeasured rhythm (see illustration of notation) b. Possibly based on improvisatory practice c. Some scholars have tried to interpret this type of passage in
modal rhythm 2. Second Alleluia, in unison, by choir 3. Psalm verse, "Pascha nostrum" in organum purum 4. Clausula (clause or phrase in discant style)
a. Discant style is used for melismatic portions of the chant b. The melisma is repeated (marked by I and II) c. Substitutions of clausulae were common, so these passages
may have been composed by later composers 5. Sections between clausulae are in organum purum style
VII. Pérotin's Organum Compositions A. Pérotin (refer to Anonymous IV vignette in HWM) updated the Magnus
Liber Organi B. Used measured rhythm in upper voice against sustained tenor notes
instead of organum purum C. Substitute clausulae by Pérotin (HWM, ex. 3.10)
1. Tenors in rhythmic modes or patterns 2. Tenors often repeated
D. Triple and Quadruple Organum (three-voice and four-voice organum, respectively)
E. NAWM 16, Sederunt 1. Very long composition (about 20 minutes)
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2. Uses voice exchange (e.g., mm. 13–18 and 24–29) 3. Pairs of antecedent-consequent phrases (e.g., mm. 131–138) 4. Tenor voice has both sustained-note and measured passages
Music of the Thirteenth Century
I. Polyphonic Conductus A. Composed by Pérotin and others in the early thirteenth century (dropped
out of favor after 1250) B. Texts
1. Metrical Latin poems similar to Aquitanian versus and the sequence, often with several stanzas
2. Usually nonliturgical but often on sacred themes 3. Secular conductus texts dealt with serious issues
C. Text Setting 1. Syllabic 2. All voices (including the tenor) sing the same words in a
homophonic texture that was usually notated in score in the manuscripts
D. Sometimes melismatic passages (caudae) were placed at important places 1. Sometimes caudae incorporated preexisting clausulae 2. Caudae may have been played by instruments
E. Tenor melody was usually newly composed rather than coming from chant F. NAWM 17, Ave virgo virginum
1. Three strophes with strophic text setting 2. All the voices sing the words 3. The rhythm suggests Mode I but Mode II is also possible
II. The Early Motet (to about 1280) NAWM 15d, f, g A. Origins
1. Clausulae came to be separable pieces 2. The addition of words to clausulae resulted in motets, from the
French word mot, meaning "word" a. At first the words were Latin tropes of the tenor text b. Later, lighter French words were added instead of or in
addition to the Latin 3. Soon, the form began to be treated more freely. The tenor
invariably carried the chant, but composers reworked or recomposed the upper voices and added new voices to existing clausulae and motets
B. Musical features 1. Tenor melodies (cantus firmus)
a. Continued to come from chant for most of the thirteenth century
b. By the end of the thirteenth century tenor melodies often came from other sources
c. Tenor parts were laid out in repeated rhythmic patterns 2. Each of the upper voices usually has its own text
a. Second voice from the bottom: motetus
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b. Third voice from the bottom: triplum c. Fourth voice from the bottom: quadruplum d. By the end of the thirteenth century, phrases often did not
line up among the upper voices 3. Texts were often related to each other or to other motets
a. A line or two of poetry (known as a refrain, indicated by italics in NAWM 18 and in many editions of motets) from another motet might be used
b. Syllables or vowels might line up among the voices III. The Franconian Motet
A. Franco of Cologne 1. Theorist active from ca. 1250 to 1280 2. Refer to vignette in HWM
B. NAWM 18, Amours mi font / En mai / Flos filius eius 1. Tenor performs the chant melody twice (repeat marked by ||) 2. Motetus
a. Originally a clausula duplum b. French text added later
3. Triplum a. Moves at a faster rate than the motetus voice b. Melody was probably original composition, not from
clausula c. Independent from the motetus voice
IV. The Petronian Motet (HWM, Ex. 3.13, Aucun vont / Amor qui cor / Kyrie) A. Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix), active ca. 1270 to 1300, composed in
this style B. The triplum voice contains up to six semibreves to the breve, a much
faster pace than in the Franconian motet V. Other Late Thirteenth-Century Developments
A. Hocket (hiccup) 1. Thirteenth- and fourteenth-century technique in which rests
interrupt the melody, and a different voice sings the missing notes 2. Used in late thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century motets 3. Sometimes composed as separate pieces
B. Notation 1. Franco's Ars cantus mensurabilis, written ca. 1280, explains
advances in notation 2. Allows division of the breve into two or three semibreves 3. Ternary grouping continued to be the basis 4. Each note value had a different shaped symbol (see "Thirteenth-
century notation in depth" in HWM) 5. Choirbook format
a. Compare to earlier score notation b. Each voice has its own section on the page
The Ars Nova in France
I. Historical background
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A. Dual papacy-one pope in Rome & one in Avignon (France)-for most of the 14th century leads to criticism of the Church
B. Increasing secularization leads to separation of Church and State, and to more vernacular literature and secular music
C. The Plague (The Black Death) roars through Europe 1348-1350 and the Hundred Years War (1335-1453) lead to urban discontent
II. Ars Nova (=new art) A. Treatises from 1322-23 coin the term Ars Nova and name Philip de Vitry
(1291-1361) as its inventor B. Older styles still defended by conservatives who criticize the new ways
(see Jacques de Liège source reading) C. Duple division of note values allowable in Ars Nova (vs. perfections of
Franco) D. Division of the breve into four or more semi-breves leads to even smaller
note values E. Motet is the chief genre for innovation
III. Early Ars Nova music A. Roman de Fauvel
1. Manuscript from ca. 1310-14 2. Satirical poem with interpolated musical works 3. Its motet texts are critical of church and political figures
B. De Vitry’s Motets 1. Five of the Roman de Fauvel motets are probably by De Vitry 2. Nine other motets by him are in a 1360 manuscript 3. Petrarch called DeVitry a "real poet"
C. Isorhythmic Motets 1. = motet in which tenor uses repeating melody (color) and a
repeating rhythm (talea) a. Color and talea sometimes coincide, sometimes overlap b. Upper voices sometimes also have repetitions, but only the
tenor needs to be organized this way for a motet to be considered isorhythmic
2. NAWM In arboris - Tuba sacre fidei - Virgo sum a. Color : 2 statements b. Talea : 6 statements c. Each statement of the color lasts for three statements of the
talea d. Mostly in duple meter e. Change to triple meter marked by change to red ink
("coloration") IV. Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377)
A. Biographical background 1. Born in Northern France 2. Religious education; became a cleric, took Holy Orders 3. Worked as a secretary for King John of Bohemia 4. At end of his life was a canon at Rheims
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5. Famous as a poet B. Motets
1. 23 motets 2. Isorhythmic technique 3. Some are pan-isorhythmic (=all three voices isorhythmic) 4. Longer, more complex, more secular than DeVitry’s
C. Monophonic songs = Continuation of trouvère tradition; some monophonic works
1. lais (similar to the sequence) 2. virelais (form = AbbaA)
D. Polyphonic secular songs 1. With instrumental tenors 2. Occasionally has four-voice texture 3. Musical rhymes sometimes occur at the ends of two melodic
sections E. Ballade Style (or Cantilena style)
1. The top voice has the text, the two lower voices (tenor & contratenor) were instrumental
2. Some of Machaut’s four-voice ballades have two independently texted voices and are therefore called double ballades.
F. Rondeau form NAWM 20 Rose, liz 1. Two musical phrases and a refrain 2. ABaAabAB 3. Texture = solo voice with accompanying tenor and contratenor in
similar ranges and styles 4. Long melismas on important words ("liz" = lily; "fleur" = flower) 5. Rondeau was an experimental genre for Machaut. His Ma fin est
ma commencement ("My end is my beginning") uses palindrome V. Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame (Mass of Our Lady)
A. Composed in the 1360s B. Polyphonic Setting of the Ordinary portions of the Mass
1. Contrast to Notre Dame polyphony, which set mostly Proper portions
2. First example of a Mass Ordinary cycle composed by one person a. A few other anonymous cycles pre-date his b. Earlier mass movements were interchangeable
C. Unity in Machaut’s Mass 1. Recurring motives 2. Diminution recurs (Ex. 4.2)
D. Variety in Machaut’s Mass 1. Isorhythmic Movements: Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Ite, missa est 2. Gloria and Credo are note-against-note with long Amens
E. NAWM 21 Agnus Dei 1. Tenor voice is from chant (Liber Usualis page 61) 2. Beginning is intonation sung by the cantor 3. Polyphony begins with "qui tollis"
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4. Three sections, based on the text 5. First and Third sections are identical 6. Agnus II has different taleae but the same color
F. Music does not usually express the text, except in places where slower rhythms mark important words
G. Performance Practice 1. Nobody knows if Machaut intended this Mass for a special
occasion 2. There are places where instruments could have been used
(contratenor and tenor parts especially) but this is conjecture Italian Music in the Fourteenth Century
I. Historical background A. Italy was not a unified country, but was a collection of independent city-
states. B. Composers who were hired by churches also composed secular
entertainment. C. No church polyphony survives, probably because it was improvised. D. Boccacio’s Decameron describes music in social life (see Source reading) E. The Squarcialupi Codex (copied ca. 1420) is the largest surviving
manuscript. Named for its former owner, it contains 354 pieces by 12 composers. Miniature portraits open sections devoted to each composer’s works (See color plate)
II. Madrigal A. Secular song type B. Subjects: love, satire, pastoral C. Form: several three-line stanzas followed by a closing pair (ritornello)
1. Each stanza set to the same music 2. The ritornello was set to different music in a different meter 3. Melismatic passages at ends and sometimes beginnings of lines
D. NAWM 22 Fenice fù 1. By Jacopo da Bologna 2. Both voices are meant to be sung 3. Upper voice is more florid
III. Caccia (="chase") A. Canon at the unison with lively descriptive words B. Flourished ca. 1345-1370 C. Instrumental part supporting two equal upper voice parts D. Irregular poetic form, sometimes with a ritornello E. Subject often portrayed in the music
1. Hunting texts use bird calls and horn calls 2. Other texts may use dialogue and echo effects
IV. Ballata = song to accompany dancing (plural: ballate) A. Later than the madrigal and caccia (most after 1365) B. Described in Boccacio’s Decameron C. The form is similar to the French virelai
1. Born in Northern France
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2. Religious education; became a cleric, took Holy Orders 3. Worked as a secretary for King John of Bohemia 4. At end of his life was a canon at Rheims 5. Famous as a poet
V. Francesco Landini (ca. 1325-1397) A. Landini was the leading composer of ballate.
1. 90 2-part 2. 42 3-part
B. He was blind since boyhood. C. Virtuoso on small organ (organetto)-See Source reading D. Composed only secular music E. NAWM 23 Non avrà ma’ pietà
1. Ripresa = 3-line refrain sung before and after 7-line stanza 2. Piedi = first two pairs of lines in the stanza 3. Volta = last three lines of the stanza 4. Melismas on first & penultimate syllables 5. Cadences typical of Trecento music
a. "Landini cadence" (mm. 5-6 and 10-11) in which upper voice descends before leaping a third to the resolution
b. Double leading-tone cadence (mm.3-4) in which both voices rise by half-step
6. Harmonic style includes more 3rds and 6ths than French Ars Nova style
VI. Late 14th-Century Italian style A. French influence came to Italy via the return of the papal court from
Avignon to Rome in 1377 B. Italian composers write songs in French genres and used French notation C. Composers from Northern Europe settled in Italy, including Johannes
Ciconia (ca. 1370-1412) VII. Instrumental Music
A. Performance Practice is unclear, because untexted parts may have been sung
B. There is evidence that instruments may have doubled vocal lines C. Ensembles of instruments played vocal pieces D. Keyboard arrangements of vocal works can be found in the
Robertsbridge Codex (ca. 1325) and Faenza Codex (15th Century) French Music of the Late Fourteenth Century The Papal Court at Avignon was a center for secular compositions in the fixed forms. Composers delighted in intellectual games using 14th-century advances in rhythm and meter to create extremely complex music intended for professional performers and highly cultivated listeners.
I. Rhythm A. Complex and rubato-like rhythms in melody lines B. Voices have contrasting meters and contrasted groupings within the beat C. This style is sometimes called ars subtilior by musicologists because of its
extreme rhythmic complexity
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II. Example 4.4 A. Rondeau form B. Anthonello da Caserta
III. NAWM 24 Belle, bonne, sage by Baude Cordier A. Intellectual play using notation graphically in heart shape B. Three levels of hemiola (see example 4.5) C. Shifts of mensuration (meter) marked by red notes in ms. D. Tenor and contratenor anticipate the melody
IV. Notation A. Musica Ficta (=false or feigned music)
1. Raising or lowering a note by a half step to a pitch not in the gamut 2. Used to avoid tritones or to create leading tones for cadences (see
Prosdocimo source reading) 3. Sometimes indicated by accidentals 4. Often not indicated because singers knew when and how to alter
pitches 5. Accidentals were used less often after 1450 6. In modern editions, accidentals that are in the original source
appear on the staff, but those added by the editor are above the pitch
B. Italian Notation 1. Described by Marchetto of Padua in his Pomerium (1318) 2. Semibreves were grouped between dots 3. Letter signs indicated duple and triple subdivisions of the breve 4. This notation worked well for florid melodies 5. By the end of the 14th century French notation was more useful
C. French Notation 1. Expansion of Franconian principles 2. Division of the note values
a. Division of the long = mode (modus) b. Division of the breve = time (tempus) c. Division of the semibreve = prolation (prolatio) d. Triple division of these = perfect (or major) e. Duple division of these = imperfect (or minor)
3. New note values possible through division of the semibreve a. Minim = 1/2 or 1/3 of semibreve b. Semiminim = 1/2 of a minim
4. Time Signatures a. Signs for mode were dropped. b. Time
1. Perfect time = circle 2. Imperfect time = half-circle 3. The half-circle becomes the modern c for common
time c. Prolation
1. Major prolation = dot inside the circle or half-circle
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2. Minor prolation = no dot in the circle or half-circle 3. The half-circle with a dot becomes the modern
symbol for cut time d. Red notes
1. continued to indicate a change from duple to triple or vice versa
2. could also show that a note is half its normal value V. Musical Instruments
A. Evidence for musical instruments 1. Only a few manuscript examples 2. Pictures 3. Literary sources
B. Ensembles could be all-instrumental, or combine voices and instruments C. Instruments may have doubled the voice in cantilena style pieces D. Some untexted tenors were probably instrumental, but otherwise little is
known E. Instruments were divided into "high" (haut ) and "low" (bas ) based on
loudness 1. Low instruments
a. included stringed instruments (harps, vielles), flutes, and recorders
b. would be used indoors 2. High instruments
1. included shawms, cornetts, brass instruments, and percussion
2. would be used outdoors and for dancing F. Keyboard instruments
1. Clavichord and harpsichord types were invented in the 14th century but were not commonly used until the 15th
2. Organs . small organs (portative and positive) continued to be used
English Music
I. General Features of English Music A. Close connections with folk style B. Major tonality rather than modal system, including more use of imperfect
consonances (thirds and sixths) C. Homophonic texture
II. English Music in the Fourteenth Century A. Worcester Fragments, named for the Worcester Cathedral where there was
apparently a school of composition, are the source for most fourteenth-century English music
B. Genres include motets, conductus, and liturgical music C. Rondellus
1. English type of motet 2. Characterized by voice exchange 3. HWM, ex. 5.1, Fulget coelestis curia
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a. Framed by an introduction b. Three simultaneous melodies, sung by each voice part in
turn c. In each half of the piece, three melodies are treated in voice
exchange III. English Music in the Early Fifteenth Century
A. Chief collection of works is the Old Hall manuscript (named for its current location)
1. Settings of sections from the Mass Ordinary a. Plainchant melody usually in next-to-lowest of four voices b. Cantilena-style movements put the plainsong melody in the
top voice c. Sometimes the plainsong melody moves among the voice
parts d. A few isorhythmic settings
2. Motets 3. Hymns and sequences
B. Contenance angloise (English guise or quality) 1. English music became known in France 2. Martin Le Franc (see vignette in HWM) characterized it as pleasing
IV. John Dunstable (ca. 1390–1453) A. Leading English composer of the early fifteenth century
1. May have worked in France during English rule 2. Many of his works preserved in continental manuscripts rather
than English B. Motet: NAWM 25, Quam pulchra es
1. Classified as a motet: any polyphonic work on a Latin text other than the Ordinary of the Mass
2. Text is from an antiphon 3. The music is newly composed—not based on chant 4. Each verse of text has its own musical phrase 5. Dunstable divides the text into two sections, using melismas to
mark the ends of sections 6. Passages of fauxbourdon (e.g., mm. 12–15, 32–34, 44–45, 52–54):
improvised middle voice resulting in inverted triads V. Carol
A. Origins in monophonic dances with alternating solo and choral portions B. In the fifteenthth century, two- or three-part setting of a religious poem in
popular style C. Form
1. Several stanzas, all sung to the same music 2. Burden, or refrain, sung before and between stanzas
D. NAWM 26, Salve, sancta parens 1. Two voices of the burden are written out, mostly in parallel sixths 2. A third voice improvises a third above the bottom voice
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Music in the Burgundian Lands The dukes of Burgundy, centered in east central France, ruled much of the surrounding area and exercised power nearly equal to that of kings. Most of the leading northern composers of the fifteenth century came from this region or were connected with the Burgundian court.
I. Historical Background A. Dukes of Burgundy acquired land in such places as Holland and Belgium B. Vast wealth allowed Burgundy's dukes to maintain elaborate court chapels C. Musicians hired for the chapels also provided secular entertainment D. Philip the Good, duke from 1419–1467
1. Employed twenty-eight musicians in his chapel 2. Maintained a band of instrumentalists (minstrels)
E. Charles the Bold (1467–1477) 1. Amateur musician 2. Issued regulations for his chapel (see vignette in HWM)
F. Burgundian dukes traveled and hosted guests, a factor leading to a common musical style for Europe
II. Guillaume Du Fay A. Biographical background
1. Born ca. 1397 near or in Cambrai 2. Became a choirboy at the Cambrai cathedral in 1409 3. Worked at Italian courts and chapels as a young man, including the
pope's chapel 4. From 1439–50 and from 1458 until his death in 1474, lived in
Cambrai 5. Probably never a regular member of the Burgundian chapel, but is
commonly associated with the Burgundian court B. Sources of his music
1. Many manuscripts from Italy preserve his music 2. The Trent Codices (seven volumes now in a museum in Trent) are
among the most important III. Burgundian Genres
A. Masses B. Magnificats C. Motets D. Secular chansons with French texts
IV. Characteristics of Burgundian Music A. Three voice parts: tenor, contratenor, and treble or discantus
1. Tenor and contratenor in the same narrow range 2. Discantus the principal voice
B. Cadences 1. Continued use of "Landini" cadence 2. New cadence type has lowest voice skipping up an octave (HWM,
ex. 5.4) leading the ear to hear a rising fourth in the lowest range C. Rhythm and meter
1. Triple meter favored, with duple meter for contrast in long works
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2. Cross-rhythms (hemiola) V. Burgundian Chanson (any polyphonic setting of a French secular poem)
A. Rondeau form for most love poems, with refrains of two, four or five lines B. Ballade by Du Fay: NAWM 27, Resvellies vous et faites chiere lye
1. For a ceremonial occasion (as are most ballades): marriage of Carlo Malatesta and Vittoria Colonna in 1423
2. Treble-dominated style 3. Standard aabC musical form for each stanza (C is refrain) 4. Passages of text specific to the couple are marked musically
a. "Noble Charles" (m. 50) marked by chords b. Malatesta family name (mm. 57–59) marked by triplets
5. Imitation used in measures 7–10, 15–19, and 60–64 C. Gilles Binchois (ca. 1400–1460) was a master of the chanson
1. He served in the chapel of Duke Philip the Good, 1420s–53 2. His chansons express melancholy and longing 3. His melodies were fluid, gently arching, and rhythmically simple 4. Rondeau, NAWM 30, De plus en plus
a. Poetic form is similar to Machaut's Rose, liz (ABaAabAB) b. Tenor part is slow-moving against fast-moving cantus c. The contratenor fills in triads and enlivens the rhythm d. Syncopation at the cadence causes brief dissonance (later
called "suspension") e. Meter is imperfect tempus and major prolation
VI. Sacred Music in the Burgundian Style A. Chanson style (treble-dominated three-voice texture) was used for masses
and motets B. The treble voice was often an embellished version of a chant melody C. Hymn settings by Du Fay, e.g., NAWM 28, Conditor alme siderum
1. Chant melody in the top voice 2. The tenor voice was written out, moving mostly in sixths against
the top melody until cadencing at an octave 3. An improvised voice filled in between tenor and cantus (marked
Faux bourdon in NAWM) 4. Soloist and choir alternated stanzas
D. Isorhythmic motets continued to be written for solemn public ceremonies 1. In 1436 Du Fay composed Nuper rosarum flores (Recently roses)
for the dedication of the dome of the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) in Florence (see illustration)
2. An account of the 1436 performance includes instrumentalists and choirs (see vignette in HWM)
E. After ca. 1420, composers treated the Mass Ordinary as a unified whole based on cyclical procedures
1. Until ca. 1420 most Mass Ordinary movements were composed separately, although sometimes pairs of movements were composed together
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2. Plainsong mass (Mass Ordinary cycle in which each movement is based on a different plainsong melody, or cantus firmus)
3. Motto mass (Mass Ordinary cycle in which each movement begins with the same melodic motive, or "head motive")
4. Cantus firmus mass, or Tenor mass (Mass Ordinary cycle in which each movement is based on the same melody, placed in the tenor voice)
a. Invented by English composers b. Adopted by continental composers c. Became the customary style by the second half of the
fifteenth century VII. The Cantus Firmus Mass
A. Four-voice texture 1. Tenor voice "held" the cantus firmus, as in isorhythmic motets 2. Top voice was called cantus, discantus, or superius 3. The other two voices were contratenor bassus (later bass), below
the tenor, and contratenor altus (later alto) above the tenor B. Cantus firmus melody
1. Melody came from chant or from the tenor of a secular song 2. Rhythm
a. When the melody came from chant composers created a rhythm for it
b. When the melody came from a secular song composers used the original rhythm
3. Repetitions of the cantus firmus might be in faster note values 4. Title of melody became title of the Mass (e.g., Missa l'homme
armé) 5. L'homme armé: Most composers for over one hundred years wrote
at least one Mass on this chanson melody (HWM, ex. 5.5) including Du Fay
C. Du Fay's Missa se la face ay pale (NAWM 29a and 29b), after ca. 1450 1. The tenor of Du Fay's own ballade from the 1430s (NAWM 29a)
serves as cantus firmus for the whole Mass 2. The Gloria uses the cantus firmus three times
a. First statement is triple the note values of the chanson b. Second statement (m. 125) and third statement (m. 165) are
at the same note values as the chanson 3. A head motive firther unifies the Mass
a. Begins each movement b. Begins each section (mm. 40, 88, 119, 165, 184)
4. The harmonic style includes full sonorities (triads) and only brief dissonances used as suspensions or passing tones
5. "Layered texture" is used in which each voice has its own melodic and rhythmic logic and function
The Renaissance
I. Historical Background
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A. Renewal of interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture affected thinking about music
B. Humanism, a movement that revived ancient learning, encouraged musicians to express emotions in music, that is, to revive the Doctrine of Ethos
C. Scholars translated ancient Greek treatises on music from Greek to Latin, making many available to Europeans for the first time
II. Application of Ancient Greek Theory to Polyphony (ca. 1450–1600) A. Composers and theorists believed the ancient Greek modes were the same
as the church modes, and accepted stories of the powers of each (Doctrine of Ethos)
B. Theorists devised rules for counterpoint based on consonance and dissonance
C. Pythagorean tuning was inadequate for music with sixths and thirds and increasing chromaticism. Theorists experimented with different tuning systems based on their reading of Greek theorists, especially Ptolemy
D. Composers and singers paid more attention to the relationship between words and music
III. The Renaissance Period A. Translation of the term "Renaissance": "rebirth" (coined in the nineteenth
century) B. Rebirth of interest in ancient Greek culture C. Rededication to human as opposed to spiritual values
1. Fulfillment in life rather than in the afterlife 2. Expression of the full range of human emotions 3. Enjoyment of the pleasures of the senses
D. Began in Italy 1. Rulers of city-states sought to glorify themselves through art 2. Citizenry accumulated wealth through commerce and wanted
prosperity for their families 3. The Catholic Church, once again based in Rome, supported music
E. Patronage 1. Wealthy families brought musicians from France, Flanders, and the
Netherlands to Italy 2. The papal chapel hired some of the best northern musicians as
singers and composers F. Music printing
1. Circa 1450, printing using movable type perfected by Johann Gutenberg
2. First liturgical books made with movable type ca. 1473 3. First collection of polyphony using movable type 1501, published
by Petrucci (Harmonice musices odhecaton) in Venice 4. Ensemble music printed in oblong partbooks, one volume for each
voice part
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5. Printed music made it possible for composers' works to be performed by amateurs and in far-off places (including the Americas)
IV. Johannes Ockeghem (ca. 1420–1497) A. Background
1. The first of the great northern composers 2. Sang in the Antwerp cathedral choir in 1443 3. Served Charles I, duke of Bourbon, for a short time 4. Sang in the royal chapel of the kings of France from the 1450s to
his retirement 5. Composed relatively few works 6. Composed Masses, motets, secular chansons
B. Masses 1. Thirteen Masses 2. Similar to Du Fay in sonority 3. Bass voice lower than in earlier music (Ockeghem may have been
a bass) 4. Voice parts nearly equal and frequently cross 5. Example: NAWM 30, De plus en plus
a. Cyclical mass (all sections based on the same cantus firmus)
b. Tenor from a chanson by Binchois (HWM ex. 6.2a), possibly as a tribute to him
c. Cantus firmus in the tenor but occasionally sung by other voices
d. Occasional moments of imitation (e.g., mm. 9–10, Example 6.2b)
e. Use of imperfect consonances including triads f. Cadences always resolve to perfect consonances g. Dissonances either in suspension or at the semiminim level h. Some sections written for fewer voices for contrast
6. Other Masses have a variety of features a. Missa mi-mi is based on a motto using "mi" in two
hexachords b. Missa prolationum uses mensuration canon, in which all
voices move at different rates of speed (notated by having each voice sing the same melody but with different clefs and mensuration symbols) (HWM, ex. 6.3)
c. Missa cuiusvis toni can be sung in any mode depending on clef combinations
V. Jacob Obrecht (1457 or 1458–1506), representative of the Franco-Flemish
Composers of the Generation after Okeghem A. Biographical background
1. His father was a professional trumpeter 2. He trained for the priesthood
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3. He worked as a choirmaster and teacher in Zoom, Cambrai, and Bruges
4. In 1487–88 he was in the service of Duke Ercole I in Ferrara 5. At the end of his life he traveled between Italy and Belgium 6. He died of the plague in 1506 in Ferrara
B. Works 1. He composed twenty-nine Masses, twenty-eight motets, secular
songs in French and Dutch, as well as some instrumental pieces 2. His Masses use cantus firmus techniques, but with some flexibility 3. Missa Caput (HWM, ex. 6.5)
a. Imitation created by a canon between two voices b. Motivic unity achieved through repeated motives
VI. The Chanson A. The chanson from 1460–1480
1. Larger musical forms, but continued use of the formes fixes 2. More use of imitative counterpoint 3. Very popular genre in its time—frequently copied 4. Transcriptions and arrangements for instruments common 5. Possible for any of the voices to become cantus firmus for Masses 6. Obrecht and Busnois the most popular chanson composers
B. Chansons from 1470–1500 collected in Petrucci's Odhecaton anthology 1. Fuller texture 2. More completely imitative counterpoint 3. Clearer harmonic structure 4. Greater equality of voices 5. More use of duple meter 6. Often based on a preexisting song
VII. Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450s–1521) A. Most influential composer of his time
1. Called the "master of notes" by Martin Luther 2. Considered the musical equivalent of Michelangelo
B. Career 1. Born in France 2. 1477–78 worked at the chapel of René of Anjou in Provence 3. 1484–89 sang at the duke's chapel in Milan and traveled with other
members of the nobility 4. 1489–94 or 95 sang at the Sistine Chapel in Rome 5. 1501–03 worked in France, possibly for King Louis XII 6. 1503 appointed maestro di cappella in Ferrara for a noble court,
for a high salary, but returned to France to escape the plague 7. 1504–21 provost at the Church of Notre Dame in Condé-sur-
l'Escaut C. Chansons
1. Josquin's chansons do not use the formes fixes 2. His chansons employ imitation, with all the voice parts treated
equally
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3. He sometimes arranged popular songs polyphonically, e.g., Faulte d'argent
D. Masses 1. Cantus firmus Masses using secular tunes (e.g., Missa L'homme
armé) 2. Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae uses vowels of the hexachord
syllables to depict the theme 3. Imitation Masses (beginning around 1520) used a polyphonic work
as a model (e.g., Missa Malheur me bat) 4. Petrucci published three collections of Josquin's Masses 5. NAWM 32, Missa Pange lingua, one of his last Masses
a. Based on plainsong hymn b. Cantus firmus sung by all voices c. Motives from the hymn melody used for imitative passages d. Sensitivity to the text (musica reservata)
i. Semitones express Christ's crucifixion ("cruxifixus") ii. Block chords express Christ's burial
iii. Fast notes express Christ rising from the dead E. Motets
1. Motets comprised a large percentage of his output, which was unusual for his time
2. Motets allow for more experimentation than the Mass 3. Since any sacred Latin text could be a motet text, there were more
possibilities for experimenting with the relationship between words and music
4. Musica reservata a. Suiting the music to the meaning of the words (term coined
mid-sixteenth century) b. Associated with Josquin particularly, and especially in his
motets 5. Example: NAWM 33, De profundis clamavi a te
a. Written toward the end of his life b. Scored for low voices ("de profundis": out of the depths) c. Melody goes down a perfect fifth for "profundis" d. Melody goes up a minor sixth for "clamavi" (I cried)
6. Example: Ave Maria . . . virgo serena (HWM, ex. 6.7) a. One of his most popular (i.e., widely copied) compositions b. Uses fugal imitation at the octave, fifth, and fourth c. Each phrase of text assigned a musical subject that is then
taken up in turn by each of the voices d. After finishing the subject each voice either drops out or
continues in free counterpoint e. Phrases linked by subtle motivic resemblances
VIII. Other Composers of Josquin's Generation A. Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450–1517)
1. Pan-European style
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2. Lived and worked in Germany, Vienna, and Florence 3. Wrote songs in French, German, and Italian 4. Composed some instrumental pieces 5. Probably heard canti carnascialeschi (carnival songs) in Florence
a. Festive songs for Florence's holiday season b. In chordal declamatory style c. Sung by guilds from floats; used to advertise guild
members' wares (e.g., HWM, ex. 6.10) 6. Songs in popular style (e.g., NAWM, Innsbruck, ich muss dich
lassen) a. Melody in the soprano b. Chordal declamatory style with some pseudo-imitation c. Phrases separated by rests
B. Pierre de la Rue (ca. 1460–1518), Flemish, composed many Masses and motets
C. Jean Mouton (1459–1522), French 1. Emulated Josquin 2. Worked for royal chapel in France 3. Masses and motets with smooth-flowing melodic lines 4. Spent some time in Italy
The Franco-Flemish Generation 1520–1550
I. General Stylistic Features A. Church music changed more gradually than secular music B. The imitation Mass replaced the cantus firmus Mass as the dominant Mass
type C. Chant melodies were freely treated when used as subjects for Masses and
motets D. Five- and six-voice texture became more common than four-voice texture
II. Nicolas Gombert A. Probably a pupil of Josquin B. Worked in many cities in Europe, including Vienna, Madrid, and Brussels C. Composed more than 160 motets D. Features of his style (typical of 1520–50 generation; example: Super
flumina Babilonis): 1. Imitative sections with interlocking cadences punctuated by
fauxbourdon sections 2. Smooth and uniformly dense texture 3. Few rests 4. Dissonances carefully prepared and resolved 5. Undramatic compared to Josquin
III. Jacobus Clemens (ca. 1510–1556, also known as "Clemens non Papa") A. Worked in Bruges and Netherlands churches B. Composed chansons C. Composed fifteen Masses, all but one on polyphonic models D. More than two hundred motets similar in style to Gombert's except with
more clarity of phrasing and clearer definition of modes
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E. Four books of psalms with Dutch texts in simple three-part polyphony IV. Adrian Willaert (ca. 1490–1562)
A. Biographical background 1. Born in Flanders 2. Studied composition in Paris with Jean Mouton 3. Worked in Rome, Ferrara, and Milan early in his career 4. Ended his career at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice (1527–62) 5. Compositional developments
a. Brought text and music into closer rapport b. Experimented with chromaticism c. Experimented with rhythm
6. Composed mostly sacred music and some secular music 7. Deeply affected by humanist movement 8. Trained many other musicians who became important composers
B. Music and words 1. Believed that text should determine every dimension of the
musical form 2. One of first composers to insist that printers put the syllables under
the correct notes (text underlay) 3. Insisted that composers pay attention to the stresses of Latin
pronunciation 4. Never allowed a rest to interrupt a word or thought 5. Cadences only when a principal period in the text ended
a. Weaker cadences, such as "Phrygian" cadence (example 7.1b, measures 79–80) for minor divisions in the text
b. Evaded cadences: voices give the impression they are about to cadence (usually with a suspension), but turn instead in a different direction
c. Resulting texture mid-way between frequent stops of earlier composers and "long-windedness" of Gombert
d. Approach to major cadence marked by close imitations, multiple suspensions, and strategically placed dissonances (end of example 7.1b)
C. Chant sources 1. O crux is based on antiphon (LU, page 1453) 2. Fragments of the borrowed melody become the basis for imitation 3. Each voice paraphrases the melody in its own way
D. Modality 1. Musica ficta had been undermining the theory of modes 2. Willaert attempted to capture the essence of mode in polyphony 3. Example 7.2 shows Willaert's approach to Mode I:
a. Transposed up a fourth b. Uses the characteristic rising fifth motive (G–D) c. Has all the main cadences close on G (the transposed final)
Secular Song in Italy Composers and singers working in noble courts cultivated the frottola, a deliberately
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simple and folklike genre, but soon found inspiration in the sonnets and other poetry of Petrarch. The "Petrarchan" movement created a new genre, the madrigal, which carefully matched musical settings to the structure and meaning of the poem. By the end of the sixteenth century, madrigal composers began expanding the harmonic vocabulary to express the texts more forcefully.
I. Italy A. Venice's St. Mark's cathedral was the most prestigious post (held by
Willaert) B. Willaert taught Italian musicians including Andrea Gabrieli and Giovanni
Gabrieli C. Italy became the most important center of European music
II. Frottola A. Popular genre of late fifteenth–early sixteenth centuries B. Eleven collections published by Petrucci 1504–14 C. Sung at noble courts D. Composed by Italian composers and some northerners living in Italy E. Characteristics of the frottola
1. Four-part strophic songs 2. Syllabic text-setting style 3. Homophonic 4. Melody in the top voice 5. Simple diatonic harmonies 6. Several forms used (special types had their own forms) 7. Sometimes arranged for solo voice with lute
F. Example: NAWM 35, Io non compro più speranza 1. Hemiola effect through groupings of six beats (from canzonet,
light dancing song) 2. Harmony almost entirely in root-position chords 3. Arranged for voice with lute 4. Example of one of the standard frottola forms, the barzelletta
(abbaab) III. Lauda
A. Religious counterpart of the frottola B. Popular nonliturgical devotional song with text in Latin or Italian C. Melodies often from secular songs D. Four-part settings E. Performed a capella or with instruments F. Homophonic texture G. Regular rhythm H. Simple harmony I. Rarely used Gregorian melodies
IV. Madrigal A. Most important genre of Italian secular music in the sixteenth century B. Not related to the fourteenth-century madrigal C. Texts
1. More elevated and serious than frottola texts
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2. Sometimes written by major poets 3. Sentimental or erotic subjects, sometimes from pastoral poetry,
with an epigrammatic ending 4. Any of several forms, including sonnet and ballata, usually with
only one stanza D. Musical style
1. Composers tried to make the music as elevated as the poetry 2. Text setting was through-composed: each line has its own music 3. Four-voice settings were used until about 1550, then five or more
voices E. Performance contexts
1. Madrigals were performed at aristocratic and literary gatherings 2. After ca. 1570, professional singers performed madrigals 3. Plays and other theatrical productions included madrigals 4. Instruments could play some of the parts
V. Early Madrigal Style A. Early composers were active in Florence, Rome, and Venice B. Constanzo Festa (ca. 1490–1545) was a member of the papal chapel in
Rome C. Philippe Verdelot (ca. 1480–1545) was Franco-Flemish and active in
Florence D. Willaert composed some madrigals E. Jacques Arcadelt (ca. 1505–1568) was active in Venice (example: NAWM
36, Il bianco e dolce cigno, mid-1530s) 1. Transitional style 2. Mainly homophonic 3. Square rhythms 4. Cadences mirror the meaning of the text instead of the poetic lines 5. Dissonances and minor triads portray "more" (dies) and death
VI. The Petrarchan Movement A. Cardinal Pietro Bembo (1470–1547) led the movement to return to the
ideals of Petrarch's (1304–1374) poetry B. Piacevolezza (pleasingness) in Petrarch's poetry included grace,
sweetness, playfulness, wit C. Gravità (severity) in Petrarch's poetry included modesty, dignity, grandeur D. Petrarch used techniques such as rhythm, accent patterns, sound qualities
of vowels and consonants to portray grave or pleasing values E. Petrarch's poetry was used for some madrigals, and other madrigal texts
were imitations of Petrarch F. Sonnet became the favored poetic genre for madrigals because of the lack
of internal repetition and its pattern of conflict and resolution G. Example: NAWM 37, Aspro core e selvaggio by Willaert (ca. mid-1540s)
1. Text is a sonnet by Petrarch 2. Willaert probably knew Bembo's analysis of this sonnet 3. For grave passages (e.g., "harsh and savage heart" at the
beginning) he uses harsh sounds
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4. For sweet passages (e.g., the second line) he uses sweeter consonances (minor thirds and sixths), melodic motion by semitones, triple time
5. Shift between hard heart (major intervals) and the softening effect of tears (softer minor intervals), measures 103–114
6. See Zarlino vignette in HWM on harshness and softness from On the Modes
7. Cadences only where warranted by the punctuation of the text H. Cipriano de Rore, NAWM 38, Da la belle contrade d'oriente (1566)
1. Text: a sonnet by Petrarch 2. Six voices (typical of later style) 3. Second quatrain distinguished by change of voicing to women's
voices VII. Other Developments in Madrigals
A. Chromaticism 1. Theorists such as Nicola Vicentino proposed a revival of the Greek
chromatic and enharmonic genera 2. Vicentino experimented with microtonal keyboard instruments and
incorporated Greek tetrachords in sonnets (HWM, ex. 7.6) B. Chromatic notation, in which noteheads were filled in (i.e., black) for the
faster note values allowed for "eye music," for example, night could be notated in black notes
VIII. Later Madrigalists A. Orlando di Lasso (1532–1594) was more important as a church composer B. Philippe de Monte (1521–1603) composed thirty-two books of madrigals
in Italy, Vienna, and Prague C. Giaches de Wert (1535–1596) was born in Antwerp but spent most of his
life in Italy. His later compositions use extravagant contrasts and bold leaps
D. Luca Marenzio (1553–1599) depicted feelings with artistry 1. Example: NAWM 39, Solo e pensoso 2. Text is a sonnet by Petrarch 3. Slow-rising chromatic scale in the top voice represents the poet's
footsteps 4. Descending arpeggios in the other voices portray a desolate
landscape 5. The jagged melody in measures 25–33 represent the poet's darting
eyes IX. Concerto delle Donne
A. Performers' virtuosity encouraged florid runs, trills, turns, and a variety of vocal techniques
B. The most famous group was the concerto delle donne (women's ensemble) C. Established at the d'Este estate in Ferrara in 1580 by Duke Alfonso d'Este D. Group of trained singers serving as ladies-in-waiting E. Inspired jealousy among the other noble families F. Vincenzo Giustiniani describes a performance (see vignette in HWM)
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X. Madrigal Composition at the End of the Sixteenth Century A. Carlo Gesualdo, prince of Venosa (ca. 1561–1613)
1. Murdered his wife and her lover but did not go to jail 2. Second marriage to the niece of Alfonso d'Este 3. At Ferrara, heard one of Vicentino's chromatic instruments 4. He composed chromatic music to portray the text 5. Example: NAWM 40, Io parto (late 1590s)
a. Each image is portrayed separately b. "Io parto" is portrayed with a chromatic rise to a half-
cadence c. "Privò" uses descending imitative entries for a breaking
heart d. Penultimate line portrays death (chromatic chords),
renewed life (rapid motion and close imitation), and exhaustion ("spirti spenti") through descending imitations
e. Final line puts ornamental runs on "accenti," which meant improvised runs
B. Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) 1. Born in Cremona, employed by the duke of Mantua (Vincenzo
Gonzaga), spent last thirty years as choirmaster at St. Marks' in Venice
2. His first five books of madrigals published 1587–1605 3. His early madrigals expressive without being as extreme as
Gesualdo's 4. Used chromaticism and dissonance freely 5. Declamatory text setting (like later recitative) 6. The bass line more supportive, not equal to the other voices 7. Ornaments and embellishments written in rather than improvised 8. Example: NAWM 53, Cruda Amarilli
XI. Other Kinds of Part-song in Sixteenth-Century Italy A. Villanella (or canzon villanesca, peasant song)
1. First appeared in the 1540s 2. Flourished in Naples 3. Lively, strophic, homophonic with deliberate parallel fifths 4. Its crudeness in response to the more sophisticated madrigal 5. Eventually, so similar to madrigal as to lose its identity
B. Canzonetta (little song) and balletto 1. Lively, homophonic 2. Clear, distinct harmonies 3. Evenly phrased sections 4. Balletti: dancing songs with "fa la la" refrains 5. Both genres imitated by German and English composers
Secular Song Outside of Italy As the Italian madrigal continued to develop, composers in other countries worked at adapting secular song forms to their own sensibilities. In France, composers experimented with the imitative possibilities of music in the Parisian chanson and
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grappled with the problem of the French language's lack of accentuation in musique mesurée. In England, composers imitated Italian madrigals but eventually developed their own style of madrigal composition. Composers in Spain and eastern Europe also developed regional styles.
I. France A. Parisian chanson
1. Developed during the reign of Francis I (1515–47) 2. Over 1500 published by Pierre Attaingnant (ca. 1494–ca. 1551)
a. Was the first French music printer b. Published over fifty collections of Parisian chansons
3. Many published in arrangements for voice and lute 4. Style originally similar to frottola
a. Syllabic text setting b. Many different types of verse forms c. Subjects usually carrying double meanings d. Homophonic texture with short points of imitation e. Principal melody in the highest voice f. Strong rhythms g. Usually in duple meter
5. Claudin de Sermisy (ca. 1490–1562), example, NAWM 41, Tant que vivray
a. Melody is in the top voice b. The harmony consists mostly of thirds and fifths c. Dissonances occur at the downbeat of a cadence, like an
appoggiatura d. Long notes or repeated notes end each line of text e. The composer made no attempt to illustrate the text in
detail, but just to capture the optimism of the poem 6. Clément Janequin (ca. 1485–ca. 1560)
a. Along with Sermisy, one of the principal chanson composers in the first Attaingnant collections
b. Descriptive chansons imitating bird songs, hunting calls, battles
c. His most famous chanson, La Guerre, depicted a battle B. The later Franco-Flemish chanson
1. Principal chanson publishers outside of Paris were Jacques Moderne in Lyons, France, and Tilman Susato in Antwerp, Belgium
2. Gombert, Clemens, and other Franco-Flemish composers 3. More contrapuntal than Parisian chansons 4. Less rhythmically marked 5. The contrapuntal tradition continued longest further north; an
example is Dutch composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–1621)
6. Orlando di Lasso composed chansons with French texts, close imitations, and humorous settings. Some of his chansons were in
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the style of the Parisian chanson but with more attention to the accents of the texts
II. Musique Mesurée A. Académie de Poésie et de Musique (Academy of Poetry and Music)
1. Academy was formed in 1570 2. It was a group of poets and composers interested in ancient Greek
and Latin metrical poetry 3. The French language does not have the long and short vowels of
ancient Greek or Latin, so poets assigned lengths to French vowels (vers mesuré)
4. Jean-Antoine de Baïf wrote vers mesuré using this system B. Claude le Jeune (1528–1600) leading composer
1. He gave long notes to long vowels and short notes to short vowels of vers mesuré
2. Resulting rhythms use duple and triple meters freely 3. Example: NAWM 42, Revecy venir du printans
a. Short vowels receive quarter notes b. Long vowels receive half notes c. The result is similar to the hemiola effect in Cara's frottola
(NAWM 35) d. Refrain (rechant) is for five voices e. Strophes (chant) increase in number of voices from two to
five f. Brief melismas add lightness and charm
C. After about 1580 the air de cour was more popular III. Germany
A. Franco-Flemish music did not appear in Germany until about 1530 B. Lied (German polyphonic song) (plural: lieder)
1. Collected in songbooks; one of the earliest is the Lochamer Liederbuch (Locheim Songbook) of 1455–60
a. Contains monophonic songs b. Contains three-part songs in which the tenor voice has the
melody 2. The Glogauer Liederbuch (Glogau Songbook)
a. Published around 1480 b. Contains three-part settings similar to those in the
Lochamer Liederbuch, but some have the melody in the top voice
3. Style: blend of Franco-Flemish counterpoint with traditional German song
4. Isaac was one of the first masters 5. Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486–1542 or –43) composed lieder in Munich
a. Similar in style to Franco-Flemish motets b. Sometimes used folklike tenor tunes c. Earthy and serious in tone
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6. After 1550 Italian genres replaced the lied, or the lied took on Italian style
C. Orlando di Lasso (1532–1594), the chief Franco-Flemish composer in Germany
1. Worked for Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria 1556 or 1557 2. From 1560–1594 was head of the ducal chapel in Munich 3. Published seven collections of German lieder; see Ich armer Mann
(HWM, ex. 7.9) 4. All voice parts equal with bits of imitation and echoes 5. Influenced by madrigal composition
D. Hans Leo Hassler (1564–1612) 1. Born in Nuremberg 2. Studied with Andrea Gabrieli in Venice 3. 1585–1612 worked at several positions in Germany 4. Among his works: instrumental music, German lieder, Italian
madrigals and canzonets, Latin motets, Masses, and settings of Lutheran chorals
5. Features of his style: polished melodic lines and clearly articulated form
IV. Spain and the Villancico A. Villancico was the principal genre of secular polyphony B. Form of villancico is short strophic song with a refrain, usually aBccaB C. Melody in the top voice D. Other voices performed by instruments E. Villancicos were published in cancioneros (songbooks), sometimes for
solo voice with lute F. The main composer and poet was Juan del Encina (1469–1529)
V. Eastern Europe A. Foreign elements mixed with local traditions as a result of people's travel
among regions B. Bohemia and Poland
1. Earliest examples of polyphony in Poland are from the thirteenth century
2. In the sixteenth century composers wrote chansons, Masses, motets, and instrumental music
VI. England and English Madrigals A. Musica transalpina
1. 1588 collection of Italian madrigals translated into English, published by Nicholas Younge
2. Followed by other similar anthologies 3. Inspired English madrigal compositions from the 1590s to the
1630s B. Thomas Morley (1557–1602)
1. Composed light madrigals, balletts and canzonets 2. Balletts modeled on Italian balletti 3. Style: homophonic with the melody in the top voice
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4. Composed in dancelike meters 5. Formal patterns (e.g., AABB) marked by full cadences 6. Refrain sung to the syllables fa la leading people to call the pieces
fa las 7. 1592, published Triumphes of Oriana, a collection of madrigals in
honor of Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558–1603) a. Each madrigal ends with the words "Long live fair Oriana,"
the name associated with Elizabeth b. The style combines expressive and pictorial traits c. The music matches the rhythm and declamation of the
English texts d. (See vignette in HWM showing his attention to moods and
variety) C. Thomas Weelkes (ca. 1575–1623), example: NAWM 43, O Care, thou
wilt despatch me 1. Serious message but with fa la syllables 2. Learned counterpoint including imitation in direct and contrary
motion (especially in the opening) 3. Chain of suspensions 4. Harmony as intense as Gesualdo's but with a smoother effect 5. Form: ABBCDD
D. Performance of madrigals, balletts, and canzonets usually by unaccompanied voices but appropriate for viols alone or in combination with voices
VII. English Lute Songs A. In the early 1600s, the English madrigal declined in popularity and the lute
song replaced it B. Songs have better quality poetry than madrigal texts C. Melodies are subtle with sensitive text declamation D. Main composers were John Dowland (1562–1626) and Thomas Campion
(1567–1620) E. Lute accompaniments are subordinate to the voice part F. Publishers put the lute part below the voice part so singers could
accompany themselves G. Versions for voices sometimes put each voice part on a different part of
the page so singers could sit around a table and read from one book (HWM, figure 7.2)
H. Example: NAWM 44, Flow my Tears 1. Example is by John Dowland, from his Second Booke of Ayres
(1600) 2. aabbCC form similar to that of the pavane, a dance form 3. Musical repetitions make expression of individual words
impossible, but the poem has the same dark mood throughout, which Dowland portrays
4. Harmony is explainable in modern terms. The three sections are in A minor, C major, and A minor, respectively
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5. This song was very popular and became the basis of variations for many composers (NAWM 46 is an example for keyboard)
VIII. Consort Songs A. This genre was never cultivated outside of England B. An ensemble of viols accompanied solo or duet singing C. William Byrd (1543–1623) achieved a high level with imitative
counterpoint The Rise of Instrumental Music During the years 1450–1550 more instrumental music was written down. Before this period most notated pieces of instrumental music were transcriptions of vocal works. Consorts of like instruments continued to play vocal music, but composers also began composing with instruments in mind. Original compositions in stylized forms replaced improvisations on vocal models for dance music. Keyboard music developed its own genres in combination with equivalent lute genres. These included the toccata, ricercare, prelude, and sets of variations.
I. Historical Background A. Before 1450 few instrumental works were notated, and most of these were
transcriptions of vocal pieces B. During the sixteenth century more instrumental music was written down C. Instruments continued to perform music written for voice D. During the sixteenth century several books on instrumental technique and
tuning were published 1. Musica getutscht und ausgezogen (A Summary of the Science of
Music) by Sebastian Virdung, Germany, 1511 2. Michael Praetorius (ca. 1571–1621) Syntagma musicum (A
Systematic Treatise of Music, 1618), includes woodcut illustrations of instruments of the time
II. Instruments (see HWM, figure 7.3 and figure 7.4) A. Built in sets of four to seven like instruments spanning the soprano to the
bass ranges. These sets were called "chests" or "consorts" B. Wind instruments included double reeds (shawms), capped-reeds
(krummhorn), transverse flutes, cornetts (wood or ivory with cupped mouthpieces), trumpets, sackbuts (ancestor of the modern trombone)
C. Viols differed from modern violin family 1. Fretted neck 2. Six strings tuned a perfect fourth apart with a major third in the
middle 3. Delicate tone, played without vibrato 4. Viola da gamba (leg viol) played with the instrument between the
legs 5. Viola da braccio (arm viol) played with the instrument supported
by the arm D. Keyboard instruments
1. Organ a. Church organs by about 1500 were similar to instruments
of today
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b. Pedal keyboards were first used in Germany and the Low Countries
2. Clavichord a. Used a metal tangent to strike the string b. Soft tone c. Volume controlled by performer to some extent d. Vibrato possible e. Played in small rooms
3. Harpsichord a. Used a quill to pluck the string b. Other names: virginal, spinet, clavecin, clavicembalo c. With two keyboards (manuals), variation in timbre possible d. Used for solo and ensemble playing in moderate-sized
rooms E. Lute
1. The most popular household instrument 2. Pear-shaped, with one single and five double strings 3. Tuned in fourths with a third in the middle 4. Plucked with fingers 5. Fretted neck 6. Used for solo performance, to accompany singing, or in ensembles 7. Music for lute notated in tablature, notation that showed where to
place the finger on the string (examples in HWM and in NAWM 44)
III. Instrumental Arrangements of Vocal Works A. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, instrumental music was tied to
vocal music 1. Instruments doubled or replaced voices in vocal compositions 2. Solo and ensemble instrumental music derived from vocal music
B. Madrigals, chansons, motets were arranged C. Lute and keyboard players notated their improvisations on vocal models D. Publishers often indicated the music was "for singing and playing." E. Polyphonic vocal music was transcribed into tablature F. In nomine arrangements
1. John Taverner (ca. 1490–1545) arranged the passage "in nomine Domini" from one of his Masses for instruments, staying close to the vocal model
2. Other composers used this piece or its cantus firmus as a theme for elaboration
G. versets: short organ pieces based on chant melodies IV. Compositions Modeled on Vocal Genres
A. Canzona (canzona da sonar or chanson to be played) 1. Styled on the French chanson 2. Light, fast-moving, strongly rhythmic 3. Simple contrapuntal texture
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4. Characteristic opening rhythm: long-short-short (e.g., half note followed by two quarter notes)
5. Earliest Italian examples written for organ 6. Ensemble canzonas from ca. 1580 7. Series of contrasting sections (e.g., HWM, ex. 7.11) 8. Andrea Gabrieli (ca. 1510–1586) (e.g., HWM, ex. 7.12)
a. He was organist at St. Mark's in Venice b. HWM example 7.12 is titled ricercar because terminology
was not yet standard c. Each section is different; first section is repeated after
section four B. Sonata
1. Sacred version of the canzona 2. Series of sections each based on a different subject 3. Giovanni Gabrieli (ca. 1557–1612)
a. Nephew of Andrea Gabrieli b. Organist at St. Mark's in Venice c. Composed thirty-six canzonas and seven sonatas d. Applied polychoral techniques e. Sonata Pian' e Forte from Sacrae symphoniae (1597)
i. Double-chorus motet for instruments ii. Among the first instrumental ensemble pieces to
designate specific instruments iii. Instruments included cornett and sackbuts in
different sizes iv. One of earliest instances of dynamics—notation
indicated pian (soft) for groups alone and forte (loud) for both instrumental groups together
V. Preludes and Other Introductory Pieces A. Improvisatory pieces among the earliest examples for solo players
1. Titles included prelude, preambulum, fantasia, ricercare 2. Melodies were not based on preexisting works 3. No definite meter or form 4. Luis Milán (ca. 1500–1561)
a. Published Libro de musica de vihuela de mano intitulado El Maestro (1536)
b. Improvisatory style lute pieces B. Toccatas (from the verb toccare, to touch)
1. Chief form of improvisatory keyboard music in the second half of the century
2. Possibly based on lute improvisational style 3. Claudio Merulo (1533–1604), Venetian organist (e.g., HWM, ex.
7.13) a. Embellishments and scale passages in freely varied
rhythms b. Increasingly fantastic brilliant running passages
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c. Climax resulting from slow chordal changes coupled with increasing liveliness and longer runs
4. Also called fantasia, intonazione, and prelude C. Ricercari (also ricercar)
1. Ricercari used series of fugal sections 2. Earliest were brief improvisatory pieces for lute 3. Keyboard ricercari used more imitation 4. By 1540 ricercari consisted of successions of different themes,
each developed in imitation with overlapping cadences, similar to motets
5. More instrumental in character, the pieces used freer voice leading and instrumental embellishments
VI. Dance Music A. People of breeding were expected to be expert social dancers in the
sixteenth century B. Dance music was usually improvised but some was published C. Pieces were divided into sections and had regular and clearly marked
rhythmic patterns D. Principal melody was ornamented but there was little counterpoint E. By the end of the sixteenth century, many arrangements for lute, keyboard,
and ensemble had been published F. Dance medleys, sets of two or three dances
1. Stylized dance pieces, not meant for dancing 2. Usually a slow dance in duple meter paired with a fast dance in
triple meter on the same tune as a variation 3. Pavane and galliard pairing a favorite combination in France and
England 4. Passamezzo and saltarello combination popular in Italy
G. Allemande (or alman), duple meter stylized dance form, became popular after the middle of the sixteenth century
H. Courante, fast, flowing triple meter dance, began in the sixteenth century I. Basse danse was the favorite courtly dance of the late fifteenth and early
sixteenth century 1. Began as improvisation over a borrowed tenor 2. Later basses danses have the melody in the top line 3. Example: NAWM 45, Danseries a 4 Parties, Second Livre
a. Published by Pierre Attaingnant in the 1530s b. The first part uses a repeated pattern of beats: 3 4 2 3 with
little melodic repetition c. The second part, branle gay, is in triple time (branle duple
and branle simple were in duple time) d. Choreography of both parts determines the forms and
features VII. Variations, Improvised on a Tune to Accompany Dancing
A. Published in lute tablature by 1508, in Joan Ambrosio Dalza's (fl. early 1500s) Intabulatura di lauto
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B. Ostinato patterns repeated over and over in the bass could serve as a basis for variations (passamezzo antico and passamezzo moderno, which derived from the pavane)
C. Variations on standard airs for singing, or on popular tunes 1. Especially favored by Spanish lute and keyboard composers 2. Antonio de Cabezón (1510–1566) and Enriquez de Valderrábano
(fl. mid-1500s) the most notable D. English keyboard players (virginalists), especially William Byrd (1543–
1623) 1. Most comprehensive collection of keyboard music is the
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (manuscript, hand-copied between 1609 and 1619)
2. Most of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book variations are on slow dance tunes or familiar songs
3. Short, simple, regular melodies were the favorite subjects for keyboard variations
4. Each variation preserves the main structural features of the theme 5. Melody may appear intact in the sets of variations or broken up by
figuration or passing among the voices 6. Hexachord fancy uses the six notes of the hexachord as a theme 7. Each variation uses one type of figuration, sometimes alternating
between left and right hands 8. Each variation may also use a new meter 9. The final variation is often slower, restating the full theme with
fuller sonority and richer harmony 10. Example: NAWM 47, Pavana Lachrymae by William Byrd
a. Variation on John Dowland's air, Flow, my tears (NAWM 44)
b. The original air used the form of the pavane, with three repeating strains
c. Byrd adds a variation after each strain d. The right hand retains the melody e. Both hands play decorative turns, figurations, and scale
patterns in imitation The Music of the Reformation
I. Historical Background A. Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses (complaints about the Catholic
Church) to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517 B. The result was the Lutheran Church, the first Protestant denomination C. Luther was a singer and composer, and admired the music of Josquin des
Prez D. Luther believed in the ethical power of music and wanted the entire
congregation to participate E. Although some larger Lutheran churches retained the Latin liturgy and its
polyphony, other churches developed new liturgy and musical styles II. The German Mass
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A. Luther first published his German Mass in 1526 B. He retained some features of the Roman Mass and discarded others C. Texts were in sometimes in German, and recitation formulas were adapted
to the German language D. Hymns in German (chorales) replaced most of the musical portions of the
Mass E. Local churches used the German and Latin Masses in individualized
combinations III. The Lutheran Chorale
A. Strophic congregational hymn (chorale or Kirchenlied, church song) B. Originally monophonic, for unison congregational singing C. Often also arranged for four voice parts D. Luther himself wrote many texts and some melodies, for example, the text
of Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott, 1529 E. Many melodies came from Gregorian hymns F. Many chorales were contrafacta of secular songs (e.g., NAWM 34 and
HWM, ex. 8.1; contrafacta are new or spiritualized texts added to extant music)
G. Polyphonic chorale settings used lied techniques, imitation, or cantus firmus techniques
H. Cantional style, with the tune in the highest voice to an accompaniment of block chords, became the favored technique in the last third of the century
I. Collections of chorales 1. In 1524, Luther's musical collaborator Johann Walter (1496–1570)
published a collection of thirty-eight German chorale settings and five Latin motets
2. George Rhau (1488–1570) published a comprehensive collection in 1544
3. Many other collections were published in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries
IV. The Chorale Motet A. Some southwest German congregations returned to Catholicism at the end
of the sixteenth century B. Lasso and other composers used the chorale melodies freely as the basis
for composed polyphonic compositions (chorale motets) C. Attention to text was similar to that in other motet types, such as portrayal
of pictorial details D. Composers broke away from chorale tunes eventually E. The leading composers were Michael Praetorius (HWM, ex. 8.2), and
Hans Leo Hassler (1562–1612) V. Reformation Church Music Outside of Germany
A. Calvinist churches 1. Founded by Jean Calvin (1509–1564) 2. Prohibited the singing of texts not found in the Bible 3. Translated psalms into the vernacular and set them to metrical
rhymes
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4. Set the psalms to newly composed or borrowed melodies B. The French Psalter
1. Psalter was published in 1562 for Calvinist churches 2. Claude Goudimel (ca. 1505–1572) and Claude Le Jeune composed
settings 3. For congregational singing, unison was preferred 4. For singing at home, four-part settings in chorale or motet style
were preferred 5. The French Psalter was translated and published in other countries,
such as England, Holland, and Germany 6. Example: HWM, ex. 8.3 (Psalm 134 in France, "Old Hundredth" in
English psalters) 7. Calvinist churches discouraged elaboration, so never expanded into
other forms the way Lutheran chorales did C. Bohemia
1. Jan Hus (1373–1415) led a movement in Bohemia that resulted in the banishment of polyphony and instrumental music from the church until the mid-sixteenth century
2. Hussites sang simple, folklike, monophonic hymns 3. Note-against-note part music was gradually introduced 4. Czech Brethren were later called the Moravian Brethren
a. They published a hymnbook with texts in Czech b. Moravians emigrated to America, especially Pennsylvania,
in the early eighteenth century VI. England in the Sixteenth Century (before England's separation from the
Roman Catholic Church in 1534) A. Before the Reformation, the War of the Roses (1455–85) caused a decline
in music production (see chronology in HWM) B. English composers were isolated from the continent; Franco-Flemish
composers did not go to England C. English composers preferred five- and six-part voice textures, with
contrasting voice groups for variety, and long melismas D. Leading composers in the early sixteenth century were William Cornysh
the Younger (1465–1523) and Robert Fayrfax (ca. 1464–1521) E. The Eton Choirbook
1. Compiled between ca. 1490 and 1502 for Eton College 2. Contains music by William Cornysh the Younger and Robert
Fayrfax 3. Sixty-seven antiphons in honor of the Virgin
F. John Taverner (ca. 1490–1545) 1. Considered the greatest English musician of the early sixteenth
century 2. Directed a choir at Oxford and composed festal Masses and
magnificats 3. Features of his style
a. Full, florid style typical of English music
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b. Occasional sequential passages c. Some imitation d. Treats cantus firmus melody in a series of variations
VII. Anglican Church Music A. In 1534, the Church in England separated from the Roman Catholic
Church 1. Henry VIII broke with the church for political reasons 2. At first there were no real changes to the liturgy 3. By 1549 (Act of Uniformity) there was a standard English rite
a. English used in the service instead of Latin b. Only one prayer book permitted for public use (The
English Book of Common Prayer) 4. Syllabic text setting and plain homophonic settings encouraged,
but eventually some counterpoint allowed 5. Latin allowed in some circumstances, such as college chapels
B. Service 1. Replaced the Mass 2. Combines parts of Matins and Vespers (Morning and Evening
Prayer) and Holy Communion, from the Mass, with fewer sung portions than in a Catholic Mass
3. Great Service used contrapuntal, melismatic music 4. Short Service used chordal, syllabic music
C. Anthem 1. Anthem corresponds to the Latin motet, but the language is
English 2. Full anthems were written in contrapuntal style for a cappella
chorus a. Example: NAWM 50, Sing joyfully unto God by Byrd b. Text is first four verses of Psalm 81 c. Frequent cadences on tonic and dominant only d. Contrapuntal texture with rare homophony e. Byrd paid close attention to the rhythm and meaning of the
words 3. Verse anthems alternated accompanied solo voice(s) with passages
for chorus D. Mid-sixteenth century English composers
1. Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505–1585) a. Catholic period: Masses and votive antiphons under Henry
VIII b. Protestant period: Music for English service and anthems in
English under Edward VI (r. 1547–53) 2. Christopher Tye (ca. 1505–1572) 3. Robert Whyte (ca. 1538–1574)
Catholic Music at the End of the Sixteenth Century
I. The Counter-Reformation A. Catholic Church started a program of internal reform in the 1540s
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B. The Council of Trent was a special council that met from 1545 to 1563 to address problems in the church, including problems with church music
1. Secular cantus firmi used as the basis for sacred works 2. Complex polyphony made it impossible to understand the words 3. Inappropriate behavior of church musicians 4. Inappropriate use of instruments 5. See vignette in HWM for the Council's (vague) recommendations
II. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 or 1526–1594) A. Biography
1. Educated and was a choirboy in Rome 2. Was choirmaster at the Cappella Giula at St. Peter's 1551–54 3. Sang in the pope's official chapel (Cappella Sistina) briefly but
could not continue because he was married 4. Spent last forty years as choirmaster and teacher at influential
churches in Rome 5. Returned to the job of choirmaster at the Cappella Giula at St.
Peter's from 1571 to 1594 6. Lived in Rome all his life and turned down good job offers in order
to stay in that city B. Palestrina and the Counter-Reformation
1. Supervised the revision of the official chantbooks to bring them in line with the Council of Trent's orders
a. The council ordered that chants be purged of "barbarisms, obscurities, contrarities, and superfluities"
b. The resulting chantbook (the Medicean edition of the Gradual) was completed by others after his death, published in 1614, and used as the church's official chantbook until 1908
2. A legend from the 1590s credits him with saving polyphony by composing a polyphonic Mass that incorporated Council of Trent Reforms, the Missa Papae Marcelli, published in 1567 (NAWM 47)
a. Credo i. No imitation, for the sake of brevity and clear
diction ii. Uses a six-voice choir broken up into smaller
groups iii. All six voices used together only at important words iv. Fauxbourdon-like passages v. Rhythmic accents to help reduce monotony (e.g., in
"Et unum Dominum") b. Agnus Dei
i. Uses close imitation ii. Each voice puts accents at different places
C. Palestrina's output was mostly sacred, including 104 Masses, about 250 motets, and other liturgical works. He also composed about 100 secular
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madrigals, but "blushed and grieved" to have composed music for love poems
D. Palestrina's style 1. His style is representative of the Counter-Reformation's
conservative attitude (The "Palestrina Style" is still synonymous with polyphonic church music)
2. Palestrina studied Franco-Flemish composers' works and sometimes used their polyphonic works as the basis for his imitation Masses
3. Palestrina composed Masses using all the techniques available to him: cantus firmus, paraphrasing of a chant in all voice parts, canon, and imitation
4. His melodies often move stepwise in an arched line (see HWM, example 8.4, from NAWM 47b), similar to Gregorian chant melodies
5. His harmonic style includes triadic harmony and very little chromaticism
6. Counterpoint follows Zarlino's rules (Le istitutioni harmoniche) closely
a. Dissonances introduced in suspensions and resolved on strong beats
b. Dissonances between beats allowed if the moving voice is doing so in a stepwise fashion
c. Downward leap of a third, from a dissonance to a consonance (later called cambiata), also allowable
d. Resulting harmonic style is alternation of consonance and dissonance
e. Palestrina reduces monotony by using variety in spacing the voice parts
7. Rhythm a. Palestrina's style of rhythm is typical of sixteenth-century
polyphony b. Each voice has its own natural rhythm (see HWM, example
8.6, from NAWM 47b) c. The natural rhythms of all the voices are complementary,
giving regularity to the piece as a whole 8. Form achieved through using only a few scale degrees for
cadences and by giving each phrase of text its own musical motive 9. Text is comprehensible (e.g., NAWM 47a, Credo)
E. Palestrina's style became a model for later composers of church music, who called it the stile antico (old style) or stile grave (severe style)
III. Spain A. Spanish manuscripts include works by Franco-Flemish composers, but
there were eminent Spanish composers too B. Spanish and Roman composers had close ties throughout the sixteenth
century
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C. Cristóbal de Morales (ca. 1500–1553) 1. Sang in the papal chapel in Italy, 1535–45 2. Famous in Italy and Spain 3. Style typical of Spanish composers of his time: expansive
melodies, judicious use of fugal procedures, adventurous approach to harmony
D. Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611) 1. Studied in Rome, possibly with Palestrina 2. Worked at the Jesuit German College in Rome 1571–77 3. In 1587, returned to Spain to work in the chapel of the Empress
Maria 4. His style combines Roman and Spanish qualities:
a. Palestrina's variety of textures and polyphonic style b. Morales's use of notes outside the modal system
5. Example: NAWM 48a, motet: O magnum mysterium a. Text expresses the joy of the Christmas season b. Fugal opening is in Palestrina's style but with larger leaps
6. Example: NAWM 48b, Missa O magnum mysterium: Kyrie a. Imitation Mass, which preserves the opening characteristics
of the motet b. To create a fugue with two subjects, Victoria creates a
second theme based on the main theme c. Freely invented material used for the Christe (typical of
imitation Masses) d. Triadic harmony, similar to Palestrina's style, but with
more use of perfect consonances for cadences IV. Orlando di Lasso (1532–1594)
A. One of the greatest composers of sacred music in the late sixteenth century B. Lasso's style combined several styles: Franco-Flemish counterpoint,
Italian harmony, Venetian opulence, French vivacity, German severity C. Known for the high quality of his motets (e.g., NAWM 49, Tristis est
anima mea) 1. Published in the Magnus opus musicum (Great Work of Music), a
collection of his motets 2. Pictorial representations of the text, similar to madrigalist word-
painting: a. Phrases divided to reflect changes in meaning in the text b. Descending semitone representing sadness ("tristis") c. Circular melodic figure for the words "circumdabit me"
(will encircle me) d. "vos fugam capietis" (you will take flight) represented with
fugal subject that is repeated eleven times to represent the eleven disciples who ran away while Jesus was being beaten
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e. Note-against-note texture for important text, "et ego vadam immolari pro vobis" ("and I shall go to be sacrificed for you")
D. At the end of his life Lasso composed spiritual madrigals V. William Byrd (1543–1623)
A. Byrd was the last of the great Catholic Church composers of the sixteenth century
B. He possibly studied with Thomas Tallis as a boy and sang at cathedrals in Lincoln and London
C. 1575–1585, Byrd and Tallis had a monopoly on music printing in England (through royal grant), which made them very influential
D. He remained a Catholic all his life but worked for the royal family during both Catholic and Protestant periods
E. He composed a few very fine Masses and many motets F. His Gradualia, two books of motets (1605, 1607), were published for
Catholics who worshiped secretly after the official break with the Catholic church
G. His style included imitation, word-painting, evaded cadences, and fauxbourdon (HWM, ex. 8.10, Tu es Petrus)
Characteristics of Baroque Music
I. The Term Baroque A. The word Baroque was coined in 1750 as a derogatory term (meaning
deformed pearl) for elaborate filigree ornamentation in architecture B. It was also used once in 1733 by a music critic panning a Rameau opera C. Nineteenth-century art critics rehabilitated the term, using it to describe a
period with flamboyant, decorative, and expressionistic tendencies D. Twentieth-century music historians applied the term to music from the late
sixteenth century until about the mid-eighteenth (ca. 1750) II. Baroque Music
A. The term designates an era (1600–1750) rather than a style, because there was a diversity of musical styles
B. Many characteristics of the period began before 1600 and some were already declining by the 1730s
C. The main shared ideal for the period was that music's principal goal was to move the affections
D. Musical ideals of the period began in Italy but by the end of the period all of Europe shared a single musical language
E. Italy was the most influential country for the entire period because of the importance placed on music in many city-states, including Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples, and Bologna
F. France developed its own musical idiom but was heavily influenced by Italian music
G. Italian music influenced Germany after the Thirty Years' War (1618–48) but by the end of the era German composers (especially Johann Sebastian Bach) came into their own
III. Patronage
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A. Noble and royal courts supported musical culture B. Pope and the rulers of city-states also maintained musical establishments C. The church had less of a role in supporting music than it had previously D. Academies, private associations that sponsored musical activities,
supported music in many cities E. Public concerts were just beginning, but were rare until the later 1700s
IV. Literature, the Arts, and Sciences A. Great writers and playwrights of the period
1. In England, Donne and Milton 2. In Spain, Cervantes 3. In France, Corneille, Racine, and Molière
B. Great artists of the period 1. Rubens, Rembrandt 2. In Spain, Velázquez and Murillo 3. In Italy, Bernini (sculptor) and Borromini (architect)
C. Great scientists and philosophers of the period: Bacon, Descartes, Leibniz, Galileo, Kepler, Newton
V. The New Musical Idiom A. Late sixteenth-century composers (e.g., Gesualdo and Gabrieli)
experimented with more intense and varied emotions B. Early seventeenth-century composers continued to experiment C. By the mid-seventeenth century there was a new, widespread, musical
language D. The two practices
1. In 1600 Giovanni Maria Artusi criticized Monteverdi's works (see vignette in HWM), especially Cruda Amarilli (NAWM 53), because of Monteverdi's unconventional approach to counterpoint (i.e., often breaking Zarlino's rules)
2. Monteverdi characterized Zarlino's style as prima pratica and his own as seconda pratica
a. In Monteverdi's seconda pratica, Zarlino's rules could be broken in the interest of text expression
b. Other terms were stile antico and stile moderno (old and new styles), or stile gravis and stylus luxurians (severe and embellished styles)
VI. Instrumental Music Developed A. Compositions became idiomatic (i.e., particular to the instrument) B. The violin family of instruments evolved
1. Overhand bowing could be more forceful than the underhand style of viols
2. The sound of the violin was less like the human voice than that of the viol
3. Violins replaced viols in Italy but not in France C. Wind instruments evolved due to technical developments D. Vocal techniques changed, making the difference between vocal and
instrumental sounds even more pronounced
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VII. Music and the Affections A. Continuing the trend begun in late sixteenth-century madrigals, composers
sought to express, represent, or arouse a wide range of feelings through music
B. Affections were states of the soul (e.g., rage, excitement, grandeur, and heroism)
C. Composers represented generic emotions, not a projection of the individual emotions of the composer
D. Often a breach of convention or some distortion or intensification of compositional norms signaled a composer's attempt to arouse or move the affections
VIII. Characteristics of Baroque Music A. Rhythm
1. The approach to rhythm was either very regular or very free 2. Regular rhythms
a. Were characteristic of dance music b. Barlines and the concept of measures began in the mid-
seventeenth century 3. Irregular rhythms were characteristic of improvisatory solo
instrumental works and solo vocal music 4. Pairing movements with regular and irregular rhythms provided
contrast B. Texture
1. The typical texture of the Baroque period was a firm bass and florid treble, with unobtrusive harmony
2. The notation for this texture consisted of notated treble and bass lines with numbers (figures) above the bass line (figured bass) to guide the person filling in the chords
3. The bass line was played by a sustaining instrument, such as bass viola da gamba, violoncello, bassoon
4. Chords were played (realized) on keyboard or lute 5. Modern editions of Baroque music often include a realization of
the keyboard part, written by the editor and printed in smaller noteheads
6. Counterpoint became subservient to harmony in ensemble pieces C. Harmony
1. Because chords became the basis for harmony, composers began to view dissonances in terms of individual tones that did not fit into a chord
2. Dissonances helped direct the harmonic progressions toward cadences
3. Chromaticism was used for expressive purposes at the beginning of the period, but soon tonal harmony controlled chromaticism
4. Major-minor tonalities developed 5. Harmonies were based on a tonic triad supported by dominant and
subdominant triads, with other chords playing secondary roles
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6. Major-minor tonality evolved through habitual uses of chord progressions, and through the figured bass
7. Rameau's Treatise on Harmony, 1722, codified the harmonic system
Early Opera
I. Forerunners of Opera (see HWM chronology 1570–1640) A. Drama and music have been intertwined from ancient Greek through
Renaissance times B. Intermedi, or intermezzi, were pastoral, allegorical, or mythological
interludes staged between acts of a play 1. For important state occasions, intermedi were spectacular, with
choruses, soloists, and large instrumental ensembles 2. The intermedi for the 1589 wedding of Grand Duke Ferdinand de'
Medici and Christine of Lorraine were the most expensive ever produced (HWM, ex. 9.2)
a. Opening solo madrigal Dalle più alte sfere (From the highest spheres); typical solo song of the period
b. Four instrumental parts, with the solo vocalist singing an embellished version of the top line
c. Homophonic texture and cadences at the end of each line of poetry, like a frottola
d. Virtuoso runs and cadenzas in the solo voice, made possible by the virtuosity of trained singers
C. Madrigal cycle (now usually called madrigal comedy) 1. Short-lived dramatic form at the end of the sixteenth century 2. A comic story or a representation of a series of scenes or moods in
dialogue 3. Music: usually light, lively, and humorous 4. The most famous: L'Amfiparnaso (The Slopes of Parnassus) by
Orazio Vecchi, 1597 D. The pastoral
1. Pastoral poems, about idyllic love, were the predominant genre of Italian poetry in the Renaissance
2. Characters were simple rustic youths and the settings involved nature and imaginary places
II. The Role of Greek Theater A. Renaissance scholars studied Greek tragedies but disagreed about the role
of music B. In one view, only choruses were sung. Andrea Gabrieli composed
homophonic, declamatory choruses for a 1585 production of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex (Edippo Tiranno in Italian)
C. A second view, promulgated by Florentine scholar, Girolamo Mei (1519–1594), held that all the parts of a Greek tragedy were to be sung. Experiments demonstrating this view resulted in early opera
III. The Florentine Camerata A. Background
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1. From the early 1570s onward Count Giovanni Bardi hosted an informal academy of scholars at his palace in Florence
2. The academy discussed literature, science, and the arts 3. Musicians performed new compositions at gatherings 4. Circa 1577 onward, the scholars read letters from Girolamo Mei on
Greek music a. Mei believed the power of Greek music lay in the use of a
single melody (solo or unison choir) b. The melody moved the listener through the natural
expressiveness of vocal registers, rises and falls in pitch, and changes of rhythm and tempo
B. Vincenzo Galilei (ca. late 1590s–1591, father of Galileo the astronomer) 1. Used Mei's theories about ancient Greek music to attack
Renaissance counterpoint as exemplified in the madrigal 2. Simultaneous melodies contradicted each other, detracting from
the meaning of the words 3. Galilei dismissed portrayals of individual words (word-painting) as
childish 4. He promoted a single melody written to enhance the natural speech
inflections of a good orator or actor 5. He set some verses from Dante's Divine Comedy for solo voice
with viols (the manuscripts did not survive) IV. The Earliest Operas
A. Ottavio Rinuccini (1562–621), a poet, and Jacopo Peri (1561–1633), a composer, collaborated on all-sung works
1. Dafne, produced in Florence in 1598. Only fragments survive 2. L'Euridice was set by Peri and also by Giulio Caccini; both
settings were published B. Emilio de' Cavalieri worked at the Florentine ducal court mounting scenes
in the same experimental style. His first opera was Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo, about the rivalry between the soul and body, in 1600
V. Styles of Monody A. Monody (from the Greek monos, alone, and aidein, to sing), music for a
solo singer accompanied by basso continuo 1. Monody was not new; solo performers had accompanied
themselves in the sixteenth century, and single lines of polyphonic madrigals were often supported by instrumental accompaniments (solo madrigals)
2. Monody embraced all the styles of solo singing of the early seventeenth century, from speechlike recitative to strophic arias and solo madrigals. All of these types of singing made the creation of theatrical music possible by allowing music to represent different situations, emotions, and types of speech
3. Monodic writing was quickly taken up by composers of sacred music
B. Giulio Caccini developed a tuneful yet mainly syllabic style of solo song
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1. Clear and flexible text declamation 2. He composed embellishments of the melodic line at places that
would not disrupt the text and in places where it would enhance the message
3. Le nuove musiche (The New Music, 1602) a. Collection of his airs and solo madrigals b. Included the madrigal, Vedrò ‘l mio sol (NAWM 51)
C. Recitative style 1. Peri's style of speech-song was similar to the style scholars thought
was used for ancient Greek epic poetry 2. The basso continuo holds steady notes while the voice moves in a
speechlike fashion, with harmonic relations determined by speech declamation
3. Words that would be emphasized in speech were given pitches that were consonant with the bass
4. HWM, ex. 9.3 from Peri's Euridice shows Peri's approach to dissonance
5. Vignette by Peri shows how he attempted to combine Greek theory, expression of emotion, and speech inflection into the recitative style
D. Peri's Euridice (NAWM 52) uses all types of monody 1. Prologue (NAWM 52a), was modeled on the strophic aria
a. Each line of verse is sung to a repeated pitch with a cadential formula
b. A ritornello separates the strophes 2. Tirsi's song (NAWM 52b) is a canzonet, or dance-song
a. Rhythmic and tuneful b. Harmonically strong cadences (mostly dominant–tonic) c. Framed by a "symphony," an instrumental section
3. Dafne's speech (NAWM 52c and HWM, ex. 9.3) a. Recitative style b. Basso continuo plays chords with no rhythmic or formal
structure c. Voice part imitates inflections and rhythms of speech
VI. Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) A. The librettist, Alessandro Striggio, expanded the Rinuccini play into a
five-act drama B. Monteverdi's style
1. Recitatives are songful at key moments, with careful tonal organization
2. Contrasting sections in a variety of styles: solo airs, duets, and dances
3. Scenes defined with the use of choruses and instrumental ritornellos
4. Proportions expanded from Peri's Euridice C. NAWM 54 a, b, c correspond roughly to NAWM 52 a, b, c
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1. Prologue, NAWM 54a a. Patterned on sixteenth-century improvised techniques for
singing poetry b. Each strophe written out, with the same harmony and
different melodies c. Strophes separated by a ritornello
2. Strophic canzonet, Vi ricorda, o baschi ombrosi (Do you recall, O shady woods), NAWM 54b
a. Hemiola techniques reminiscent of the frottola b. Root-position chords favored c. Strophes separated by a contrapuntal ritornello
3. In un fiorito prato (In a flowered meadow), NAWM 54c a. Dramatic dialogue in the most "modern" style of the day b. Recitative style as developed by Peri, but with more
harmonic variety c. In Orfeo's lament, Tu se' morta, each phrase of text builds
on the previous one. Monteverdi uses harmony to reflect the emotion of the text, with unprepared chord changes and dissonances between the voice and the accompaniment
D. Monteverdi's use of the orchestra 1. The orchestra for Orfeo consisted of forty instruments, including
strings, flutes, cornetts, trumpets, sackbuts, and continuo instruments
2. Monteverdi often specified which instruments were to play 3. Brief orchestral interludes, including an introductory fanfare
("toccata") and several ritornellos VII. Francesca Caccini (1587–ca. 1640)
A. Background 1. Daughter of Giulio Caccini 2. Sang as a soloist and with her sister and stepmother, singing both
sacred and secular music 3. Worked for the Duke of Florence, whose court preferred ballets,
masques, and intermedi to opera; became his highest-paid musician
B. Composed many works for the duke, including La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina (The Freeing of Ruggiero from the Island of Alcina) in 1625
1. Composed for the visit of the Prince of Poland 2. Performed in the courtyard of the duchess's villa 3. Combined ballet and intermedi-style scenes but included the
trappings of opera, including an opening sinfonia, prologue, recitatives, arias, choruses, instrumental ritornellos
4. Choruses were either homophonic or madrigal-style (e.g., HWM ex. 9.2)
VIII. Opera in Rome
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A. Wealthy prelates vied with each other in offering lavish entertainment, and in the 1620s the pope's nephews began sponsoring operas
B. Roman opera libretto stories came from the lives of the saints, mythology, or epic poems
C. Recitative and aria become more distinct in style 1. Recitative style was more speechlike than that of Peri and
Monteverdi 2. Arias became more melodious, usually with strophic settings 3. Domenico Mazzocchi (1592–1665) developed half-arias,
mezz'arie, short tuneful interludes in the midst of recitative D. Two-part preludes became the accepted pattern for the overture E. Luigi Rossi (1597–1653)
1. Composed Orfeo in 1647, on a libretto by Francesco Buti 2. The libretto for this version adds incidents, characters, special
effects, and comic episodes 3. The integrity of the drama began to be less important 4. Beautiful arias and ensembles
IX. Opera in Venice A. Venice was an ideal place for opera because its Carnival season (between
Christmas and Lent) attracted people from all over Europe who were interested in entertainment
B. The first opera produced in Venice was Benedetto Ferrari (ca. 1603–1681) and Francesco Manelli's (after 1594–1667) Andromeda, brought from Rome in 1637 to a public theater, the Teatro San Cassiano
C. By 1678 there were nine opera theaters in Venice, and over 150 operas had been produced there
D. All performances were ticketed E. Topics of operas included mythological subjects at first; epic tales and
historical war tales became popular mid-century F. Striking stage effects portrayed clouds with choruses of singers, magical
transformations, etc G. Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea (NAWM 55), 1642, was
composed for Venice 1. Monteverdi continued to blend speechlike recitative with more
lyrical monody 2. Scene flows between recitative and aria, with sections in measured
arioso 3. The content of the libretto rather than its poetic forms dictates the
style of the setting H. Pier Francesco Cavalli (1602–1676), a student of Monteverdi, became a
leading Venetian opera composer, and composed forty-one operas in which recitatives alternate with soloistic arias
I. Antonio Cesti (1623–1669) 1. His most famous opera was Il pomo d'oro (The Golden Apple),
composed in 1667 to celebrate a royal wedding, with a large
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orchestra, many choruses, and elaborate machinery for special effects
2. His Orontea (NAWM 56), ca. 1649, was more typical of mid-seventeenth century Venetian opera, and was performed frequently outside of Venice
3. NAWM 56, Intorno all'idol mio a. Orontea's aria confessing her love to the sleeping Alidoro b. Two violins playing throughout, not just in ritornellos c. Large-scale form, with adjustments to the strophic form d. Bel canto style: smooth, mainly diatonic melodies with
easy rhythms J. Mid-seventeenth century Italian (i.e., Venetian) opera had the main
features it would maintain for the next two hundred years: 1. Concentration on solo singing 2. Separation of recitative and aria 3. Distinctive aria types 4. Reversal of the Florentine ideal of the text as master of the music;
instead, the libretto became only a support for the musical structure Secular Vocal Music
I. Strophic Aria Types A. Repeating a melody with only minor rhythmic variations for each stanza B. Using a standard formula, such as the romanesca (HWM, ex. 9.6)
1. Associated with the poetic form called ottave rime, in which each stanza had eight eleven-syllable lines and the last two lines rhymed
2. Some romanesca compositions use a repeating bass line, ground bass, or basso ostinato
C. Composing new music for the first stanza and then changing it for each stanza to reflect the meaning and inflection of the text
II. Chaconne (chacona, ciaccona) A. Dance song with a refrain B. Repetitions of a simple pattern of guitar chords with variations C. Probably originated in Latin America then came to Europe via Spain D. In Italy only the (four-bar) bass line used as basis for the variations
III. Passacaglia (pessecalle, passecaille) A. Originated in Spain as a pattern of chords played between the strophes of a
song (i.e., a ritornello) B. Evolved into a variety of four-bar bass formulas repeated continuously C. Usually in a triple meter and minor mode D. By the eighteenth century the terms passacaglia and chaconne used
interchangeably IV. Concertato Medium
A. From the Italian concertare, to reach agreement: mingling of voices with instruments that are playing independent parts
B. Concerto: diverse and sometimes contrasting forces brought together to form an ensemble
C. Concertato madrigal: voices and instruments working together equally
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D. Sacred concerto: sacred vocal work with instruments E. Instrumental concerto: a piece for a variety of instruments, sometimes
with one or more instrumental soloists V. Monteverdi's Fifth through Eighth Books of Madrigals (1605–1638)
A. These mirror the developments in instrumental participation in vocal music
B. Book Seven is called a concerto; its romanesca, Ohimè dov'è il mio ben (Alas, where is my treasure?), uses an ostinato pattern in the basso continuo (HWM ex. 9.6)
C. Book Eight, Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi (Madrigals of War and Love), uses a variety of forms and types, including works with chorus, soloists, and orchestra
D. Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Battle of Tancred and Clorinda) in Book Eight is a work in the genere rappresentativo (theatrical medium)
1. First performed in 1624 2. Narrative portions are set for solo voice in recitative while the
actors mime the action 3. Speeches by the main characters are sung 4. Instruments play interludes portraying action in the story (e.g.,
galloping horses) in Stile concitato (excited style), using tremolo or repeated pitches to portray warlike emotions and actions
VI. Vocal Solo Music in the Early Seventeenth Century A. Solo madrigals, arias, and canzonets were more widely known and
performed than operas, as were monodies and collections of works for small ensembles
B. Cantatas (literally, a piece "to be sung") 1. By the mid-seventeenth century the term was applied to any
composition for solo voice with continuo 2. Cantatas consisted of several sections including both recitatives
and arias 3. The leading composers were Luigi Rossi, Giacomo Carissimi
(1605–1674), and Antonio Cesti 4. Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677) was born in Florence, and lived in
Venice. Giulio Strozzi, probably her father, founded an academy partly to give her an outlet for her musical works. She published eight collections of vocal music, including cantatas such as NAWM 57, Lagrime mie
a. Successive sections of recitative, arioso, and aria b. Dissonances, such as the D sharp over an E in the first
measure, portray sadness in keeping with the rhetorical musical language introduced by Roman opera composers
c. The second section is an expressive arioso C. Italian models often influenced secular song outside of Italy
VII. Church Music A. Venice
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1. The Church of St. Mark continued to be the center of Venetian culture and the location of civic ceremonies
2. Venetian church music glorified the state and was independent of Roman rules
3. St. Mark's was the most prestigious place for a musician to work 4. Divided choirs (cori spezzati) were popular there 5. Giovanni Gabrieli composed for up to five choruses, each with a
different combination of voice ranges, and with instrumental accompaniment, such as his polychoral motet / grand concerto, In ecclesiis (NAWM 58)
a. Group of solo voices singing as soloists or together b. Choir c. Instruments (specified by Gabrieli) d. Organ continuo
6. Gabrieli's students spread his style to northern Italy, Germany, Austria, and Scandinavia
B. Grand concerto 1. A sacred work for very large, sometimes colossal, performing
forces 2. Orazio Benevoli (1605–1672) composed grand concertos for St.
Peter's in Rome in the 1640s, including psalms, motets, and Masses with choruses stationed in different places around the basilica of St. Peter's
C. Concerto for few (one–three) voices 1. Sung with only organ continuo accompaniment 2. Composed for average churches 3. Lodovico Viadana (1560–1627) published a collection of sacred
concertos, such as ex. 9.11 and NAWM 59, O Domine, Jesu Christe, 1602
a. The single voice imitates itself, creating an illusion of polyphony
b. The term concerto is appropriate because the work concerts (unites) voice and instrument
c. The style is similar to Caccini's madrigals, especially in its use of chromaticism
D. Motets in the new style, for example, NAWM 60, O quam tu pulchra es, by Alessandro Grandi (ca. 1575/80–1630)
1. Combine elements from theatrical recitative, solo madrigal, and bel canto
2. Composed around 1625 E. Oratorio
1. Began in Rome as sacred dialogues combining narrative, dialogue, and exhortation
2. Influenced by opera but not staged
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3. Called oratorio because they were performed in the oratory, the part of the church where lay societies met to hear sermons and sing devotional songs
4. Librettos in Latin (oratorio latino) or in Italian (oratorio volgare, i.e. vernacular)
5. Giacomo Carissimi (1605–1674) was the leading composer of Latin oratorios
a. NAWM 61, Historia di Jephte, exemplifies mid-century oratorio
b. Text is based on the Bible—Book of Judges—but librettist takes liberties with the words
c. A narrator (storicus or testo) introduces the story and narrates events
d. Choruses tell part of the story e. The excerpt in NAWM is a lament sung by the daughter
who is about to be sacrificed due to her father's promise to God
f. Harmony is used for expressive effect (e.g., suspensions and chromatic tones)
g. The work ends with a six-voice chorus singing a lament 6. Similarities to operas: use of recitative, arias, duets, and
instrumental sections 7. Difference from operas: use of sacred subjects, narrators, dramatic,
narrative and meditative roles for the chorus, and the lack of staging or acting
VIII. Lutheran Church Music A. Lutheran composers continued to compose chorale motets but also
composed in monodic, concertato, and grand concerto techniques B. Johann Hermann Schein (1586–1630) composed concertos for few voices
for German churches IX. Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) was the greatest German composer of the mid-
seventeenth century A. Biographical background
1. Studied in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli 2. 1617–72, worked at the chapel of the elector of Saxony in Dresden 3. Also spent some time in Copenhagen
B. His only surviving compositions were sacred: 1. Four-part settings of the German Psalter in a plain style (1628) 2. Latin motets in a Roman contrapuntal style with some
madrigalistic word painting, published as the Cantiones sacrae (1625)
3. Psalmen Davids (1619), a grand concerto with multiple choruses, soloists, and concertato instruments (in German)
4. Concertato motets for one to five solo voices with organ, published in Kleine geistliche Konzerte (Little Sacred Concertos) during the Thirty Years' War
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C. Symphoniae Sacrae (Sacred Symphonies), published in 1629, 1647, and 1650 were his most important works
1. These were concertato motets influenced by Monteverdi, Grandi, and G. Gabrieli
2. O quam tu pulchra es (HWM, ex. 9.13) from the 1629 set, uses recitative, aria and madrigalistic word painting
3. The last collection uses the fuller forces available after the end of the Thirty Years' War, for example, NAWM 62, Saul, was verfolgst du mich
a. Grand concerto for six solo voices, two four-voice choirs, and two violins with basso continuo (and possibly with instruments doubling the choruses)
b. Expressive text setting using dissonances c. Echo effect between soloists and chorus
D. Oratorios, such as The Seven Last Words (1645?) and the Christmas Oratorio (1664) set the narrative portions mostly in recitative
Instrumental Music
I. Compositions for Instruments A. Affected by developments in vocal music B. Instrumental music became the equal of vocal music in quantity and
quality by the middle of the seventeenth century C. The violin emulated vocal qualities and rose to prominence as a solo
instrument II. Categories of Instrumental Compositional Types and Techniques (sometimes
overlapping) A. Fugal pieces in continuous counterpoint (i.e., not sectional)
1. Ricercare 2. Fantasia 3. Fancy 4. Capriccio
B. Sectional pieces in imitative counterpoint 1. Canzonas 2. Sometimes mixed with other styles 3. Replaced mid-century by the sonata da chiesa
C. Variations on a given melody or bass 1. partita 2. passacaglia 3. chaconne 4. chorale partita 5. chorale prelude
D. Dance pieces using stylized rhythms, often collected together into suites E. Pieces in improvisatory style for solo keyboard or lute
1. Toccata 2. Fantasia 3. Prelude
III. Keyboard Genres
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A. Ricercare 1. Brief, serious composition for organ or clavier 2. Develops one theme continuously in imitation 3. Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643)
a. Organist at St. Peter's in Rome b. Composed pieces for use in church c. Example: Ricercar dopo il Credo (After the Credo, ex.
9.14) d. Frescobaldi's style had a quiet intensity e. Shifting harmonies and dissonances, and chromatic lines
B. Fantasia, Fancy 1. These works had a larger and more complex form than that of the
ricercare 2. Leading fantasia composers were Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
(1562–1621) of Amsterdam and his students 3. Sweelinck's fantasias were sectional and used different
countersubjects and toccata-like figurations IV. English Consort Music
A. Ensemble music for viols began early in the seventeenth century B. Fancies by John Jenkins (1592–1678) use a variety of procedures
1. Ricercare-like subjects in his early works 2. Sectional divisions, as in the canzona 3. Sometimes he used the term fancy for an introductory movement in
imitative counterpoint C. Later composers of fantasias for strings without basso continuo included
Matthew Locke (1621–1677) and Henry Purcell (1659–1695) V. Canzona
A. One approach was to build several contrasting sections, each on a different theme in fugal imitation and ending with a cadenza-like flourish
B. Variation canzonas use a single theme in successive sections (e.g., HWM ex. 9.15 by Giovanni Maria Trabaci, ca. 1575–1647)
C. Most ensemble canzonas are a patchwork of short unrelated sections that sometimes recurred within the work
VI. VI. Sonata A. The term sonata was vague in the early seventeenth century, meaning any
composition for instruments B. Gradually the term came to mean compositions resembling canzonas in
form but with one or two melody instruments (usually violins) with basso continuo instead of the four-part canzona, and with somewhat free and expressive idiomatic writing compared to the formal, abstract writing of the canzona
C. HWM, ex. 9.16, Biagio Marini's Sonata per il violino per sonar con due corde (1629), is an early example of "instrumental monody"
1. Idiomatic for the violin 2. Sectional without repetitions
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3. Coherence achieved through cadences on A and alternation between rhapsodic and metrical styles
D. By the middle of the seventeenth century the sonata and canzona had merged, and both were called sonata
1. Some were specified as Sonata da chiesa, sonatas for use in church 2. The typical combination was two treble parts (usually violin) with
basso continuo, usually called trio sonatas VII. Theme and Variations
A. This form was common, although not always titled as such B. Often the word partite (divisions or parts) was used early in the
seventeenth century C. The techniques used were the following:
1. Melodic repetition with little change, sometimes called cantus firmus variation, with different contrapuntal material in each variation
2. Melodic repetition with different embellishments in each variation and the harmony remaining the same for each variation
3. Using a repeated bass line as the constant factor (HWM ex. 9.17a, Aria di Ruggiero by Frescobaldi)
4. Chorale melodies as the basis for variations on organ (e.g., those of Samuel Scheidt's collection, Tabulatura nova, 1624, which used written-out parts instead of tablature). Scheidt's works influenced later German composers
VIII. Dance Music A. Dance music styles influenced many compositions whose movements may
not have had dance titles B. Suites
1. A suite: several short pieces, each with specific moods and rhythms
2. Began in Germany as a continuation of the dance pairs of the Renaissance
3. As an example, Johann Hermann Schein's Banchetto musicale (Musical Banquet, 1617) includes some suites that build on one melodic idea throughout, and others with only subtle connections among movements
a. The sections in the suites in the Banchetto are in this order: paduana, gagliarda, courante, and allemande with a tripla, a triple-meter variation of the allemande
b. The style of Schein's suites is dignified, aristocratic, vigorously rhythmic, and melodically inventive, combining Italian and German qualities
c. Schein sometimes added an intrada, an opening movement in marchlike character
C. French composers established definite characters for each dance type by arranging actual ballet music for a solo lute, clavecin (the French term for harpsichord), or viola da gamba
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1. Example: NAWM 63a and b, Gigue: La Poste a. By Ennemond Gaultier (ca. 1575–1651) b. In binary form, the first section ending on the dominant and
the second ending on the tonic c. In duple meter d. 63a, for lute, spreads triads out, leaving it to the listener to
fill in the harmony e. 63b, for harpsichord, adapts lute techniques to the
harpsichord, using a broken chord style, stile brisé 2. The tradition of using little ornaments (agréments) began with lute
players and was transferred to French harpsichord composition 3. Denis Gaultier (1603–1672) was the leading lutenist of early
seventeenth-century France a. His collection of twelve stylized dances, one in each mode,
survives in a manuscript with the title La Rhétorique des dieux (The Rhetoric of the Gods)
b. Each set includes an allemande, a courante, and a sarabande, with other dances added in no particular pattern
c. Many of the movements are character pieces with fanciful titles
4. Jacques Champion de Chambonniéres (1601–1672) was the most important keyboard composer in France, followed by Louis Couperin (1626–1661), Jean Henri d'Anglebert (1635–1691), and Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre (see Chapter 11)
D. Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667) carried the French style to Germany and established the standard movements of the suite: allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue
1. Example: NAWM 64, Lamentation fait sur la mort . . . a. Lament on the death of Emperor Ferdinand III in 1657 b. Slow allemande c. Stile brisé texture d. Using the key of F minor to allude to the emperor's name
IX. The toccata A. Frescobaldi's toccatas are more reserved than those of Venetian composers
1. Example: NAWM 65, Toccata No. 3 a. Composed for performance before a Mass b. Frescobaldi evades cadences through various means, giving
the work a sense of restlessness c. Some passages are reminiscent of vocal music, using
recitative and arioso styles 2. His toccatas influenced later composers
Opera in the Late Seventeenth Century
I. Venice A. This city continued to be the main center for Italian opera B. Singers became the main attraction
1. Famous singers were highly paid
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2. Composers began to write arias expressly for specific singers C. Librettists wrote more verses in aria forms, but composers often expanded
even brief lines of dialogue into arias as well D. The number of arias in an opera grew from ca. twenty-four in the middle
of the century to sixty in the 1670s 1. The favorite aria form was strophic 2. Also common were two- and three-part arias in forms such as AB,
ABB, and ABA 3. Many arias had refrains
E. Several aria types evolved 1. Some borrowed characteristics of instrumental forms, such as
marches and gigues 2. Bass lines were sometimes ostinatos, and after 1675 running bass
lines were common 3. Continuo arias were arias with continuo accompaniment, although
the orchestra might have had ritornellos F. Venetian opera was exported
1. Carlo Pallavicino (1630–1688) was one of many composers who brought Venetian opera to Germany
2. Agostino Steffani (1654–1728), one of the best opera composers of his time, worked in Munich and Hanover and influenced later composers (ex. 10.3, Un balen)
a. HWM, ex. 10.3, shows the coloratura passages and modest dimensions of his style
b. Typical features of the period are a motto beginning, in which the voice announces a short subject that will be developed later in the aria, and the running-bass accompaniment
II. Naples A. This city was home to the new style that would become predominant B. Composers in Naples were more concerned with musical elegance and
intrinsic effect and less with the drama C. Recitatives were short and expressed quick changes of feeling in two
styles: 1. Recitativo semplice was more speechlike, conveying dialogue or
monologue with only basso continuo accompaniment 2. Recitativo obbligato (later also called recitativo accompagnato or
strumento) emphasized tense moments in the drama and was accompanied by the orchestra, which portrayed and reinforced the emotions
3. Recitativo arioso (aria-like recitative) was a blend of recitative and aria
D. Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725) 1. Favored the da capo aria
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a. Da capo means "to the head," the words at the close of the second section that tell the performers to repeat the first section
b. Used for contrasting two sentiments 2. Example: NAWM 66, Mi rivedi from La Griselda (1721)
a. The "A" section portrays Griselda's dejection after being sent home by her husband, King Gualtiero (You see me again . . . shepherdess) in C minor
b. The "B" section portrays her joy at returning home (Yet there is . . . the same), modulating from C minor to E-flat major
c. An opening ritornello is not repeated before the return to the "A" section (repeat of "A" section is indicated as "Dal segno" instead of da capo)
d. A ritornello also closes the aria e. This form of the da capo aria was popular in the 1720s
III. France A. Although Italian operas were produced in France, French genres of staged
music evolved separately B. French national traditions
1. Ballet had flourished since Ballet comique de la reine (1581) 2. Classical French tragedy, such as works by Pierre Corneille (1606–
1684) and Jean Racine (1639–1699), demanded that poetry and drama be given priority on stage
3. Court ballet was a substantial musical work a. Some portions were danced b. Solo récits similar in style to the air de cour were sung by
nondancers c. Polyphonic choruses opened each act d. At the end of the evening the leading nobility, including the
king, took part in a grand ballet C. Louis XIV
1. Danced in professional ballets and played the guitar as a young man
2. Continued to dance in public after ascending the throne 3. Created the Royal Academy of Dance in 1661 (see vignette in
HWM) D. Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687)
1. Biography a. Born in Italy, came to Paris at the age of fourteen b. Member of King Louis XIV's vingt-quatre violons du roy
(the twenty-four member string orchestra of the king) c. In 1672 became the virtual musical dictator of France when
his Académie Royale de Musique was granted a monopoly on sung drama
2. Composed instrumental dance pieces to be added to Italian operas
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3. Also composed overtures, dances, and vocal numbers for court ballets
4. Invented the genre, comédie-ballet, a play with dances and songs a. Example: NAWM 67, Ballet des nations from Le bourgeois
gentilhomme (1670) b. Scored for five-part string orchestra c. Characters from the commedia dell'arte tradition d. Entrée
i. an allemande ii. accompanies the entrance of the dancers
iii. Dotted rhythms, characteristic of the French overture
e. Chaconne, a dance form from Latin America i. Usually based on a pattern of chords in major mode
ii. This example also has a ground bass 5. Lully's sung dramas
a. To libretti on mythological plots by Jean-Philippe Quinault b. Frequent long interludes with dancing and choral singing,
popular with French audiences c. Dances from the sung dramas so popular they were often
arranged into suites d. Recitative in the French language was difficult, but Lully
adapted it as récitatif simple, using shifting meter to declaim the dialogue and récitatif mesuré, which was more songlike, for example, NAWM 68b, Armide (1686)
i. The orchestra introduces the scene ii. Armide finds she is unable to kill Renaud, who had
freed her captives, because she has fallen in love with him
iii. The recitative is in mixed duple and triple measures, allowing accented syllables to fall on downbeats
iv. An air (aria) follows the recitative 6. French ouverture, a two-part movement before ballets, was
established by Lully and used by other composers for the rest of the Baroque era
a. The first section is slow and stately, with a homophonic texture, and marked by dotted rhythms
b. The second section is faster, with some fugal imitation but with a serious character
c. Example: NAWM 68a, Armide (Overture) i. Each section is repeated, in keeping with the genre's
origin as an allemande ii. Five-part string orchestra, based on the twenty-four
violins of the king a. One "violin"
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b. Alto and tenor "violins" tuned like modern violas
c. Bass violins tuned a step lower than the modern cello
d. Sometimes two oboes and a bassoon also played with the orchestra
E. Lully's followers in France 1. Continued to compose his style of opera 2. Incorporated some Italian features, such as da capo arias 3. Expanded the scenes of the divertissement into the opera-ballet
(e.g., L'Europe galante by André Campra) IV. England
A. Masque was an aristocratic entertainment similar to French court ballet 1. Milton's Comus (1634) with music by Henry Lawes (1596–1662)
is the best known 2. Cupid and Death (1653) with music by Matthew Locke and
Christopher Gibbons included many dances, songs, and choruses B. Stage plays without music were banned 1649–60, making opera more
appealing, but most of these were plays with music (semi-operas). After the Restoration (1660), interest in staged music declined
C. John Blow (1649–1708) 1. An organist and composer for Westminster Abbey and the Royal
Chapel 2. His masque (really an opera), Venus and Adonis, combines Italian
cantata with French and English styles D. Henry Purcell (1659–1695) was a student of Blow and held posts in
London 1. His output includes sacred choral music and some instrumental
music 2. Dido and Aeneas (1689) was composed for a girls' boarding school
a. The libretto is an adaptation of Vergil's Aeneid b. The work has four principal roles plus a small orchestra
(strings and continuo) c. It is in three acts, taking up only about one hour d. It begins with a French overture in the style of Lully e. Choruses intermingle with solos f. Recitatives are sensitive to English text declamation g. Arias (e.g., NAWM 69, When I am laid in earth) are on a
ground bass i. Preceded by recitative with a stepwise descent to
portray impending death ii. Dido's aria (lament) sung over a descending ground
bass line, a technique associated with laments in Italian opera
iii. Followed by a chorus, With drooping Wings, using the descending figure again
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3. Incidental music a. Purcell wrote instrumental music for forty-nine plays b. Some of Purcell's incidental music for plays was so
extensive that the result is an opera in the English sense c. Examples are The Fairy Queen (1692), The Indian Queen
(1695), and The Tempest (1695) E. After Purcell, English audiences preferred the products of foreign
composers and no national tradition of opera developed V. Germany
A. Hamburg opera (1678–1738) 1. The first public opera house outside Venice 2. Most productions translations or imitations of Italian operas
B. Singspiel ("sing-play"), the German version of opera, using spoken dialogue instead of recitative
1. When composers wrote recitative, it was in Italian style 2. Arias were influenced by both French and Italian styles 3. Strophic songs in popular German styles also sometimes appeared
C. Reinhard Keiser (1674–1739) wrote more than a hundred operas for Hamburg
1. His style incorporated both Italian and German elements 2. His librettos were similar to those of Venetian opera 3. His more virtuoso arias were even more brilliant than Venetian
arias 4. His slower arias were broad and expressive, but not like Italian bel
canto 5. He favored polyphonic textures for accompaniments 6. He also set farces to music, which point to the beginnings of
German comic opera Other Vocal Music
I. Secular Vocal Music in Italy A. The Cantata
1. Evolved from its roots in monodic strophic variations into a genre with many short, contrasting sections usually alternating recitatives and arias for solo voice with continuo
2. The texts were love poems, dramatic narratives, or soliloquys 3. It was performed for small audiences in rooms without stages or
scenery 4. Because of their small scale, cantatas attained an elegance and
refinement that would not be possible in opera 5. Alessandro Scarlatti composed over six hundred—HWM, ex. 10.7,
Lascia, deh lascia (Cease, O cease) a. Expressive dissonances beyond the norm for his generation b. Full da capo aria (Ex. 10.7c) c. Recitatives
B. The vocal chamber duet featured two equal high voices over figured bass C. Serenata was a semidramatic piece, midway between cantata and opera
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1. Usually composed for a special occasion 2. Composed for small orchestra and several singers 3. Composed by Stradella, Scarlatti, Handel, and others
II. Song in Other Countries A. France
1. Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1634–1704) composed both secular cantatas and sacred oratorios in the Italian style
2. Louis Nicolas Clérambault (1676–1749) published cantatas with French-style recitatives and Italian-style arias
B. Germany 1. Composers used more orchestral accompaniments and ritornellos
for solo songs than did composers in other countries 2. Adam Krieger (1634–1666)
a. Published Neue Arien (New Airs) in 1667 and 1676 b. Combined strophic melodies in popular style with short
five-part ritornellos c. Also composed cantatas
3. By the end of the seventeenth century, German song was absorbed into cantata and opera
C. England 1. Purcell published many vocal pieces (solos, duets, trios) as
Orpheus Britannicus, 1698 2. John Blow published a set of songs in 1700 titled Amphion
Anglicus 3. The catch, or round, with humorous texts was popular for group
singing III. Church Music
A. Contrapuntal music in Palestrina's style continued throughout the Baroque period
B. Church music works in the new style, with concertato style and multiple choirs, were composed by Monteverdi, Carissimi, and Schütz, among others
IV. Italian Church Music A. Bologna's basilica of San Petronio was a center of church music
composition 1. Maurizio Cazzati (ca. 1620–1677) published collections of sacred
vocal music in stile antico and stile moderno 2. Giovanni Paolo Colonna (1637–1695) liberated instruments from
the role of doubling voice parts B. Some composers developed a sentimental style, with balanced phrasing as
well as plaintive chromaticism, which was called Empfindsamkeit (sentimentality) in Germany
V. Catholic Church Music in German-Speaking Countries A. Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna were centers of Catholic church music B. Johann Josef Fux's Missa di San Carlo (1716) is an example of the
conservative style in German church music
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C. Other composers combined Italian and German characteristics, with orchestral preludes, large choruses, and clear major-minor tonality
D. Antonio Caldara (ca. 1670–1736) worked in Rome before going to Vienna 1. He composed Masses that contain solo, ensemble, and choral
sections 2. His Masses also included arias and duets and instrumental
ritornellos resembling opera styles 3. His Stabat Mater (HWM, example 10.8) uses chromaticism for
expressive effect E. Oratorio volgare (vernacular oratorio) with Italian texts were performed in
German-speaking lands (e.g., Johann Adolph Hasse's La conversione di Sant'Agostino, 1750)
VI. Church Music in France A. Marc-Antoine Charpentier introduced the Latin oratorio, combining Italian
and French styles with a prominent role for the chorus B. Motets
1. Solo motets for voice and continuo set biblical texts and were cultivated at the royal chapel of Louis XIV
2. Grand motets were also performed at Louis XIV's court a. They were similar to secular cantatas, with preludes, vocal
solos, ensembles, and choruses b. The 1712 royal chapel had an eighty-eight-voice chorus
and a large orchestra c. Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657–1726) was Louis XIV's
favorite composer of sacred music. He composed over seventy grand motets
C. Petit motet 1. French equivalent of the sacred concerto for few voices 2. François Couperin (1668–1733) used texts from Matins and Lauds
for petits motets, collected in Leçons de ténèbres VII. Anglican Church Music
A. Anthems and the Service continued to be the main genres B. Coronation ceremonies inspired elaborate works C. Some composers, such as Purcell, also composed music to nonliturgical
texts VIII. Lutheran Church Music, 1650–1750
A. After the Thirty Years' War there were two conflicting viewpoints in Lutheran church music
1. The orthodox view was that all available resources should be used 2. The Pietists preferred simpler music for personal devotion
B. Chorales continued to be the basic Lutheran genre 1. New chorales and hymns were composed for use at home,
including those in the collection, Praxis pietatis melica (Practice of Piety in Song)
2. Settings for congregational singing smoothed out metrical irregularities of the original chorales, resulting in cantional style
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C. Three types of sacred concertos developed in orthodox centers 1. Arias only or arias and choruses in the concertato medium 2. Chorales only, in the concertato medium 3. Both arias and chorales, with the chorales in either simple settings
or in the concertato medium (now often incorrectly called cantatas) D. Variations on chorales with each stanza of the chorale serving as the basis
of variations E. Abendmusiken, public concerts following church services in Lübeck
during Advent 1. Given by Dietrich Buxtehude (ca. 1637–1707), who worked at the
Marienkirche there 2. Featured long, quasi-dramatic works with recitatives, strophic
arias, chorale settings, and instrumental sections 3. Influenced musicians from all over Germany, including J. S. Bach
F. By the end of the seventeenth century there was a somewhat standard pattern for church music:
1. Motetlike opening chorus on a Bible verse 2. Solo movements in aria or arioso style 3. Chorale verse sung by a chorus
G. The Lutheran church cantata (see vignette in HWM) 1. Poets wrote sacred poems for musical settings
a. Texts were based on the church calendar and often came from the day's readings
b. The poetic forms varied from da capo form to madrigal style, with unequal line lengths and rhyme schemes
c. Several poets wrote cycles for the entire church year 2. Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), composer
a. Published four complete cycles of cantatas b. Published another twelve cycles of more than a thousand
cantatas c. Also published Passions, oratorios, and operas d. Famous in his time and known for his vivid interpretations
of the texts H. Passions
1. Lutheran Germany preferred the historia, which set a biblical narrative, over the oratorio
2. The most important type of historia was the Passion, which set the suffering and death of Christ according to Gospel accounts
3. Passions were performed before the Baroque period also 4. Oratorio Passion employs recitatives, arias, ensembles, choruses,
and instrumental movements (e.g., Schütz, Seven Last Words). 5. The text comes from one version of the Gospel or combines the
versions, and includes poetic meditations at appropriate points 6. Pietists added realistic details (e.g., The Bleeding and Dying Jesus,
1704) Keyboard Music in the Late Seventeenth Century
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I. Organ Music in Germany A. The Baroque organ
1. German organ makers, such as Gottfried Silbermann (1683–1753) were influenced by the French full organ (plein jeu)
2. French organs had stops with different timbres 3. German organ builders adapted the Dutch practice of dividing
pipes into sets called werke, which were placed around the church 4. German organs used more wind pressure than Italian organs of the
time, but much less than modern organs B. Temperament
1. Equal temperament, in which all twelve pitches in the octave are equidistant, was known but not widely employed
2. Mean-tone temperament used slightly large major thirds and slightly small "perfect" fifths to give keyboard instruments sweeter-sounding thirds and sixths but made some keys sound better than others
II. Organ Composition in North Germany A. The "golden age" in north German organ music was 1650 to 1750 B. Toccatas
1. Succession of fugal and nonfugal sections 2. Improvisational style achieved through uncertain harmonic flow
and quick shifts of direction 3. Virtuosic displays for both manual keyboard and pedals 4. Slow-paced sections with pedal-points for contrast 5. Example: NAWM 71, Praeludium by Buxtehude
a. Buxtehude's toccatas often included several fugues b. Free sections precede each fugal section
6. Pieces such as NAWM 71 could be titled Toccata or Prelude, or similar names
C. Fugues 1. These were composed both as independent pieces and as sections
within preludes 2. By the end of the seventeenth century the fugue virtually replaced
the ricercare 3. Components of a fugue
a. In the exposition, a subject (or dux, leader) is stated in the tonic and is answered in the dominant, followed by each of the voices alternating subject and answer
b. Episodes, in which the subject does not appear, come between statements of the subject, and often modulate to a new key
c. A final statement of the subject occurs in the tonic, often intensified by quick entrances of the subject (stretto), elongated statements of the subject, or a pedal point
4. Sets of preludes and fugues were compiled to train students in composition and performance
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III. Organ Music Based on the Lutheran Chorale A. Organ chorales were harmonizations with some counterpoint in the
accompaniment B. Chorale variation, or chorale partita
1. Emerged early in the seventeenth century with Sweelinck and Scheidt
2. Sweelinck: used the chorale as a cantus firmus in long notes 3. Example: NAWM 72, Danket dem Herrn . . . by Buxtehude
a. Chorale is a cantus firmus, appearing in a different voice in each variation
b. Each statement of the chorale has a new subject for imitation and counterpoint
C. Chorale fantasias use fragments of the chorale melody as motives to be developed in counterpoint and with ornamentation
D. Chorale prelude, a short piece in which the entire melody is presented just once in recognizable form (used after ca. 1650), may have originated as introduction for congregation or choir
1. One method is to use each phrase of the melody as the subject of a short fugue
2. A second method (associated with Pachelbel) uses imitative passages to introduce each of the phrases, which appear in the top voice with little ornamentation
3. A third method ornaments the melody and uses motives from the chorale tune freely (associated with Buxtehude)
4. A fourth type uses continuous and independent rhythmic figures in the lower voices to accompany an unadorned melody (associated with J. S. Bach; not used in the seventeenth century)
IV. Organ Music in Catholic Countries A. South Germany and Italy
1. Ricercare and variation canzona, based on liturgical cantus firmi 2. Lighter and more graceful than the austere and grand music of
northern Germany B. Spanish composer Juan Bautista José Cabanilles (1644–1712) influenced
by Frescobaldi and other Italian instrumental music C. France developed its own genres of organ music
1. Dialogues used imitation and antiphonal writing among the divisions of large organs
2. "Masses," such as those of François Couperin, were interludes for the Mass
V. Harpsichord and Clavichord Music (most Baroque music did not specify
which of these was to be used) A. Theme and variations popular, usually on original songlike themes (arias) B. Suites in France
1. Amorphous collections, produced by the clavecinists 2. Example: Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729),
known as a singer, harpsichordist, and composer
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3. Example: François Couperin (1668–1733), who published twenty-seven collections of clavecin pieces, which he called ordres
C. Suite movements 1. Allemande
a. Fast, duple meter b. Begins with a short upbeat c. Continuous flow of eighth- or sixteenth-notes in all voices d. Example: NAWM 64, Lamentation by Froberger
2. Courante a. Moderate, compound meter (duple or triple) b. Often uses hemiola effect, shifting between duple and triple c. Sometimes replaced by the Italian corrente, which is faster
and more homophonic d. HWM, ex. 11.2 by Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre
3. Sarabande a. Slow, in triple meter b. Often emphasizes the second beat c. More homophonic than the allemande and courante d. Sometimes followed by a double, an ornamented version e. HWM, ex. 11.3 by Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre
4. Gigue a. Usually the final dance in a suite b. Fast, in compound meter c. Continuous lively triplets with wide melodic skips d. An inverted version of the subject sometimes in the second
section e. HWM, ex. 11.4 by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre
D. François Couperin's ordres, NAWM 73 (1730) 1. Couperin's ordres contained as many as twenty dance pieces each 2. They were composed as recreation for amateur harpsichordists 3. Embellishments to delicate melodic lines and a sense of humor are
typical of his and other French composers' music of the period 4. Movements contain fanciful titles, such as NAWM 73's La
Visionaire (The Dreamer) and La Misterieuse (The Mysterious One)
5. La Visionaire a. French overture b. Whimsical character
6. La Misterieuse a. Allemande with steady sixteenth-note motion b. Binary dance form, with first half modulating to the
dominant 7. La Monflambert is a gigue. 8. La Muse victorieuse ends each section with similar material, the
first section ending in the dominant and the second ending in the tonic
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9. Les Ombres errantes uses erratic syncopations to portray wandering
10. Chaconne and passacaglia also sometimes included in his suites a. Chaconne, in stately triple rhythm b. "Chaconne" and "passacaglia" used interchangeably
11. Couperin wrote a treatise, L'Art de toucher le clavecin (The Art of Playing the Clavecin, 1716) which specifies how to play agréments and how to interpret notational symbols. He also explained them in his suites for viol, HWM, ex. 11.5
E. Johann Kuhnau was the first to compose sonatas for keyboard without other instruments. He published collections with fanciful titles in 1696 and 1700
Ensemble Music in the Late Seventeenth Century
I. Ensemble Sonatas A. Background
1. The main center for ensemble sonata composition was Italy 2. The greatest violin makers of Cremona were working in the late
1600s and early 1700s, including Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari 3. See Chapter 9 for the sonata's roots in the canzona 4. Before 1630 the term sonata meant an instrumental work within a
vocal work B. Basic features
1. Several contrasting sections or movements, all in the same key 2. Contrasts of both tempo and texture 3. Scoring for two to four solo instruments with basso continuo 4. Sonata da chiesa (church sonata) used dance movements with
abstract titles 5. Sonata da camera (chamber sonata) was a suite of stylized dances,
with the opening movement sometimes in another form. They could be called by several titles including "divertimento" and "concerto" with the words "da camera" added
6. After 1670 the most common instrumentation was for two treble instruments (usually violins) and basso continuo composed of cello or bass and a harpsichord or organ
II. Solo Sonatas A. For solo violin, flute, or viola da gamba B. Gained popularity after 1700
III. Canzona-Sonata A. In the seventeenth century traces of the cyclical variation-canzona
survived, as in the sonatas of Giovanni Battista Vitali (ca. 1644–1692) and his son Tommaso Antonio Vitali (ca. 1665–1747)
B. By the end of the seventeenth century each movement was usually thematically independent, as in Legrenzi's sonata La Raspona, NAWM 74
1. Two movements, each with a canzona-like structure 2. Both movements combining fugal and nonfugal textures
IV. Italian Chamber Music
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A. Maurizio Cazzati (ca. 1620–1677) 1. He was director of music at the church of San Petronio in Bologna,
the most important center for chamber music in Italy 2. His style (typical of Bolognese style of the period) was restrained
and serious 3. La Pellicana (1670), a sonata for use in church, is representative of
the style: a. Four movements b. Allegro in imitative style c. Grave with canonic imitation d. Presto with imitation of a rhythmic theme e. Prestissimo, imitative f. The themes of all four movements vaguely similar
B. Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713) 1. Background
a. He studied in Bologna b. He worked for most of his life in Rome c. He published four collections of trio sonatas (1681–95), a
collection of solo sonatas, and a collection of concerti grossi
d. He apparently composed no vocal music 2. Style
a. His style is serene in the Bolognese tradition, and lacks virtuosic displays
b. Tonal organization is achieved through sequences with logical and straightforward modulations and almost no chromaticism
c. In his later solo sonatas he put one movement of major-key sonatas in the relative minor and the slow movements of concerti grossi in contrasting keys
d. He achieved thematic unity within movements through continuous expansion of a single subject (typical of late Baroque style)
e. He often approached cadences in triple meter movements with a hemiola
3. Church sonatas a. Four movements, often in slow-fast-slow-fast order b. First movement usually contrapuntal and majestic in
character c. The second movement
i. Most similar in style to the canzona ii. Imitative
iii. Subject modified after the exposition d. The third movement often resembles an aria in triple meter e. The last movement is usually a carefree dance in binary
form
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4. Chamber sonatas a. Usually begin with a prelude b. Two or three dances in normal suite order c. Final gigue or gavotte d. First two movements sometimes serious, resembling
movements of his church sonatas C. NAWM 75, Trio Sonata Op. 3, No. 2 demonstrates aspects of Corelli's
style 1. Typical slow-fast-slow-fast sonata da chiesa 2. First movement (Grave):
a. Dissonances for intensity b. Chains of suspensions typical of Corelli's slow movements c. Walking bass
3. Second movement: fugal, with the bass playing an equal role 4. Third movement: a slow sarabande-like movement, with the
violins in a duet reminiscent of vocal duets, answering each other and "singing" in parallel thirds
5. Final movement: a gigue, but titled Allegro. It is fugal and uses a subject in the second half that is an inversion of the subject from the first half (similar to keyboard gigues)
D. Corelli's influence 1. Corelli's solo sonatas, composed for his violin students, are similar
to his trio sonatas, and the single violin often imitates two violins with virtuosic techniques
2. His most popular composition was a set of variations on the popular La Folia (or les Folies d'Espagne) theme
E. Performance practice 1. Performers throughout the Baroque era embellished on the written
work in several ways 2. Ornaments
a. Originally only improvised, later written down b. Intended to help the performer move the affections c. Small melodic formulas, such as trills and turns, notated by
special symbols (see HWM, figure 11.4) d. Longer embellishments, such as scales and arpeggios,
freely added, especially in slow movements (e.g., HWM, Corelli facsimile)
3. Cadenzas were elaborate extensions of six-four chords at final cadences in opera and some instrumental music
4. Performers were free to omit or substitute movements V. Ensemble Sonatas Outside Italy
A. In Germany, Georg Muffat, Buxtehude, and others composed trio sonatas and sonatas for larger combinations of instruments
B. In France the earliest important trio sonatas were by François Couperin and combined the styles of French keyboardists with Italian trio sonata. (See vignette, HWM.)
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VI. The Solo Sonata after Corelli A. Became more popular than the trio sonata because of the possibility of
technical experimentation B. Johann Jakob Walther (1650–1717?) published technically brilliant
sonatas C. Heinrich von Biber (1644–1704), a virtuoso violinist, composed Mystery
Sonatas (or Rosary Sonatas), meditations on the life of Christ, using unusual tunings (scordatura) and some long movements using theme and variations or passacaglia
D. Francesco Geminiani (1687–1762) was one of Corelli's most influential pupils
1. Wrote a treatise, The Art of Playing on the Violin (1751) 2. Compositions combine Corelli's style with later developments in
style E. Jean-Marie Leclair (1697–1764) was the most important composer of
violin sonatas in France, combining French and Italian styles VII. Works for Larger Ensembles
A. Italy 1. In Venice, sonatas, canzonas, and other genres were composed for
three or more melody instruments with basso continuo. Many of these resembled opera overtures
2. Bolognese composers in the late seventeenth century wrote for large groups of instruments using trio sonata and concerto styles
B. Germany 1. Suites were popular in Germany, such as those by Johan
Rosenmüller (ca. 1620–1684), which began with a sinfonia inspired by Venetian opera overtures
2. Associations of performers, collegia musica, in many German towns played and sang together for their own pleasure
3. Town bands (Stadtpfeifer) performed for the public 4. Tower sonatas (Turmsonaten) were played on wind instruments
from towers C. Orchestral music
1. Opera houses maintained orchestras 2. Instrumental music could be performed by orchestras or one
instrument to a part 3. In French opera, ballets were always instrumental, leading the
Paris orchestra to a high level of achievement that inspired orchestras in other countries
D. Orchestral suites flourished in Germany from ca. 1690 to 1740 1. They were sometimes called overtures because they were
introduced by a pair of movements in the form of a French overture
2. Georg Muffat's Florilegium (1695 and 1698) collection of suites included an essay on French bowing and agréments
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3. Many German composers composed orchestral suites, including Bach and Telemann
VIII. Concerto A. Appeared in the 1680s and 1690s B. Combined several favorite traits of instrumental music
1. Concertato medium 2. Texture combining firm bass with a florid treble line 3. Major-minor tonal organization 4. Longer work made from several small movements
C. Three types of concerto: 1. Orchestral concerto (also called concerto-sinfonia and concerto-
ripieno) a. Several movements b. Emphasized first violin and bass c. Avoided the complex counterpoint of the sonata and
sinfonia 2. Concerto grosso contrasts a small group (concertino, usually two
violins and continuo) against a large ensemble (concerto grosso, usually designated as tutti or ripieno)
3. Solo concerto contrasts a single instrument (usually violin) against a large ensemble (designated as tutti or ripieno)
a. Other stringed instruments and wind instruments sometimes played the solo role
b. The ripieno orchestra usually consisted of strings (violin I, violin II, viola, cello, bass viol) and basso continuo
D. Origins of the concerto 1. Episodes for solo instruments provided contrast in the ballets of
Lully's operas and in other orchestral works 2. In Venice and Bologna sinfonias and sonatas for one or two solo
trumpets with string orchestra were popular 3. In opera and oratorio arias, a concertino group sometimes
accompanied the singer, while the ripieno instruments played ritornellos
4. Early concertos functioned as overtures to other works, such as a Mass or instrumental offertories, for example, Corelli's Christmas Concerto (Op. 6, No. 8)
E. Corelli's concertos 1. Corelli's concerti grossi are among the earliest examples of the
genre 2. The style is often similar to sonatas, with the larger group echoing
the smaller group and otherwise punctuating the work F. Concertos in Germany
1. See vignette, HWM, by Georg Muffat on turning a sonata into a concerto
2. Composers continued to compose the concerto grosso in sonata forms
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G. The solo concerto and Giuseppe Torelli 1. Giuseppe Torelli (1658–1709) composed concerti grossi and solo
concertos at the turn of the century (e.g., Opus 8, 1709) 2. Torelli's concerti usually have three movements, fast-slow-fast 3. Allegro movements begin with a ritornello in the full orchestra,
which alternates with solo episodes containing new material in new keys, and returns in the tonic key at the end of the movement
4. Other composers followed Torelli's model, including Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1750) and Antonio Vivaldi (Chapter 12)
Early Eighteenth Century Music in Italy and France
I. Background of Early Eighteenth-Century Music A. Two styles of music could be heard in Paris from ca. 1720 to 1750
1. La musique barroque, fast and bold Italian sonatas and concertos (e.g., those of Vivaldi)
2. La musique chantante (songful music), less artful and more natural music, such as vocal melodies by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736), also called the galant style
B. Venice produced the most glamorous music in Europe and continued to be a musical center
1. Gondoliers and other ordinary people sang in the streets and canals 2. Wealthy families owned opera theaters and supported musicians 3. Saint Mark's and other churches put on grand instrumental and
vocal concerts on festival days II. Italian Music and Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
A. Biographical background 1. Son of a violinist at St. Mark's chapel 2. Educated for the priesthood and for music 3. Known as the red-headed priest (il prete rosso) 4. Worked at the Pio Ospedale della Pietà in Venice from 1703 to
1740 (see vignette in HWM) a. The Pietà was a conservatory for orphans and illegitimate
children, all teenage girls b. Vivaldi was the general superintendent of music for the
school c. His duties included conducting, composing, and teaching d. Concerts at the Pietà attracted large audiences e. Vivaldi was expected to compose new music for every
event B. Output
1. Operas by commission (49) 2. Concertos (over 500) for the Pietà and for private patrons 3. Solo and trio sonatas (90) 4. Vocal music, including cantatas, motets, and oratorios
C. Vivaldi's vocal works 1. Between 1713 and 1719, Venetian theaters staged more music by
him than by any other composer
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2. Choral works include the Gloria in D major (RV 588) and a polychoral psalm setting, Dixit Dominus (RV594)
D. Vivaldi's concertos 1. Vivaldi was influenced by Corelli and Torelli 2. About two-thirds of his concertos are solo concertos
a. Most of his solo concertos are for violin b. The remainder are for cello, flute, or bassoon
3. He also composed concertos for two equal violins 4. His concerti grossi often featured only one or two of the concertino
instruments 5. The orchestra at the Pietà probably consisted of twenty-five
strings, organ or harpsichord continuo, and a few woodwinds or horns
6. Form a. Three movements, fast-slow-fast b. The slow movement is in the same key or a closely related
one (relative minor, dominant, subdominant) and is as important as the fast movements
c. The slow movement is similar to an operatic aria, with a cantabile melody to which the performer could add embellishments
d. The final Allegro was usually shorter and livelier than the first Allegro
e. Fast movements usually used ritornellos in the ripieno alternating with solo episodes
f. Vivaldi's movements show almost infinite variety of form 7. Vivaldi favored homophonic rather than contrapuntal texture
E. NAWM 76, Concerto Grosso Op. 3, No. 2, RV 578 1. This concerto was published in a collection of twelve concertos
called L'estro armonico (The Harmonic Fancy) in 1711 2. The first Allegro (NAWM 76b) follows an introductory Adagio
(NAWM 76a) 3. The concertino consists of two violins and a cello 4. The opening ritornello has three motivic sections (see HWM, ex.
12.1) 5. The final statement of the ritornello reverses the motivic sections
F. NAWM 77, Concerto for Violin, Op. 9, No 2, RV 345 1. This concerto was published in 1728, with many features of the
early classical style, including balanced phrases and clarity of structure
2. Slow harmonic changes over a pedal intensify the suspense 3. During the solo passages, only a solo cello and continuo
accompany the soloist G. Vivaldi's late works point toward Classical style H. Some of Vivaldi's works are programmatic, including The Seasons
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I. Vivaldi's style of instrumental music influenced others, including J. S. Bach
III. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764) A. Foremost French musician of the eighteenth century B. Background
1. Became famous as a theorist after the age of forty 2. Composed most of his famous music between the ages of fifty and
fifty-six 3. Taught only by his father, an organist 4. Worked at provincial positions for two decades 5. Published his Traité de l'harmonie (Treatise on Harmony) in 1722 6. In 1723, moved to Paris and became more famous 7. Alexandre-Jean-Joseph Le Riche de la Pouplinière (1693–1762)
a. Each week La Pouplinière held several concerts in his home and a Mass in his chapel
b. Rameau worked for him as organist, conductor, and composer-in-residence from 1731 to 1753
c. Rameau also gave clavecin lessons to La Pouplinière's wife C. Operas
1. Rameau composed several operas that were performed in Paris in the 1730s
2. Parisian intellectuals debated the merits of his works versus those of Lully
3. His detractors called his music difficult, forced, grotesque, thick, mechanical, and unnatural, that is, Baroque
4. His later stage works were lighter 5. In the 1750s, his works were drawn into a debate between French
and Italian opera styles (covered in Chapter 13) D. Rameau's theoretical works
1. His main intent was to derive the basic principles of harmony from the laws of acoustics and mathematical equations
2. He clarified musical practice of his time and influenced music theory for the next two hundred years
3. The chord a. Rameau considered the chord the primal element in music b. He used the intervals found in the basic division of string
lengths to justify the major triad, but had trouble justifying the minor triad
c. Rameau was the first to recognize the identity of a chord in all its inversions
d. Rameau coined the term basse fondamentale, or root progressions in a succession of harmonies
4. Functional harmony a. Rameau established the relationships among triads (e.g.,
tonic, dominant, and subdominant)
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b. He sorted triads on each scale step into a hierarchy, with each chord having a function in its key
c. Each triad had a different function in each key, which made modulation possible using a single chord (in modern terminology, the pivot chord)
5. Rameau's mathematical calculations were discredited; they were removed from the 1752 edition of his theory, published by Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (1717–1783) under the title Elèments de musique théorique et pratique suivant les principes de M. Rameau
E. Musical style of Rameau's operas 1. In keeping with the fashions of the time, the drama became less
important than the decorative elements such as scenic spectacle and dances
a. Self-contained scenes between the acts, called entrées, had their own unrelated plots
b. The French public was interested in exotic scenes from places such as Peru and Turkey
c. Rameau composed the music for these entrées as well as the main opera
2. Rameau's melodies were consistent with his harmonic theory a. He believed that all melodies were rooted in harmony b. Many of his melodic phrases contain triads or in other ways
support harmonic progressions 3. Harmony is mostly diatonic but with modulations and secondary
chords in orderly relationships to the major-minor tonality of the movements
4. Forms for the overture varied and could be based on French or Italian models. Sometimes his overtures contained a theme that would reappear later in the opera
5. Airs for voice a. Style is elegant, with agréments to embellish the melody b. Forms were AB or ABA or sometimes rondo-like
6. Monologues (e.g., NAWM 78, Ah! faut-il from Castor et Pollux) a. Dissonances are expressive and propel the harmony
forward b. Refrain is aria-like ("Ah! faut-il . . .") c. Other parts are speechlike, with short notes and frequent
meter changes 7. Orchestration uses a four-part string section instead of the earlier
French tradition of having a five-part string section F. Rameau's instrumental style
1. Overtures, dances, and descriptive symphonies accompanied the stage action in his operas
2. Tone painting common in his operas (e.g., orchestral depictions of thunder or earthquakes)
3. His clavecin pieces are similar in style to those of Couperin
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4. His only collection of trio sonatas (1741) treats the harpsichord as an equal partner
The Life and Music of J. S. Bach
I. Biographical Background A. Born (1685) in Germany to a large family including several good
musicians B. Trained first with his father, then with an older brother (Johann
Christoph), an organist C. Studied the works of other composers by copying or arranging their
scores, and continued to do this throughout his life D. His positions dictated the type of composition he composed:
1. 1703–7, Arnstadt, organist 2. 1707–8, Mühlhausen, organist 3. 1708–17, Weimar, court organist and later concertmaster 4. 1717–23, music director at the court of the prince in Cöthen 5. 1723–50, Leipzig, cantor of St. Thomas School 6. Composed mostly organ music in Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, and
Weimar 7. Composed secular instrumental music at Cöthen 8. Composed church music in Leipzig along with keyboard music
II. Bach's Organ Music A. Young Bach made trips to hear the famous organists of his day, including
a trip to Lübeck to hear Buxtehude B. Early organ music
1. Pieces based on chorales, including chorale preludes and variations on chorales
2. Improvisatory pieces, including toccatas and fantasias patterned after Buxtehude's
C. Weimar period music 1. Bach absorbed the Italian style by copying scores of Italian
composers such as Vivaldi 2. His themes became more concise and the harmonic scheme
became tighter 3. He used more formal structures such as concerto-ritornello 4. The result of the Italian influence was an international style
combining characteristics of Italian, French, and German music D. Preludes and fugues
1. The pairing of a prelude (or toccata or fantasia) with a fugue was standard in the period
2. Bach's compositions are technically difficult and idiomatic for the organ but not empty displays of virtuosity
3. Example: Prelude and Fugue in A Minor BWV 543 (NAWM 79) a. Prelude: Italian concerto influences include violinistic
figures in the theme and alternation of chains of suspensions in the style of Corelli
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b. Fugue: The episodes of the fugue have soloistic qualities and the appearances of the fugue subject function like tuttis in Italian concertos
4. Later preludes and fugues include the gigantic St. Anne's Prelude and Fugue, BWV 552, a triple fugue composed for his Clavier-übung (Keyboard Practice) of 1739
E. Trio sonatas for organ, BWV 525–530, put the bass line in the pedal and the two treble lines in the manuals
F. Chorale preludes 1. Bach composed about 170 organ chorales in all types of forms and
styles 2. Short chorale preludes are included in his Orgelbüchlein (Little
Organ Book), composed in Weimar in 1716–7 a. His original plan was to compose one for each day in the
church year (164), but he completed only 45 b. The book was pedagogical, designed to teach beginning
organists ways to develop a chorale theme and improve their technique
c. The chorale tune is heard once through in readily recognizable form
d. Example: NAWM 80b, Durch Adams Fall i. NAWM 80a is the chorale melody, which is heard
in the top line at the beginning of NAWM 80b ii. Jagged descending lines portray Adam's fall
iii. Leaps go from consonant intervals to dissonant ones, representing the fall from innocence to sin
iv. Twisting lines represent the serpent G. Later compositions were often part of a large-scale design
1. The Well-Tempered Keyboard is a cycle of preludes and fugues in all the major and minor keys
2. The Goldberg Variations uses canons at increasing intervals 3. A Musical Offering is an exhaustive treatment of a single theme 4. The Art of the Fugue is a comprehensive collection of fugue types
H. Pedagogical collections included two Little Notebooks for his second wife (Anna Magdalena) and his son Wilhelm Friedemann, and other compositions
I. Leipzig compositions 1. Transcriptions of chorales from cantata movements (BWV 651–
68) 2. Part III of Clavier-übung 3. Chorales from this period are grander in proportion and focus more
on development of musical ideas than on expressive details III. Music for Harpsichord and Clavichord
A. Bach composed in every genre of his time B. He composed most of the music for harpsichord or clavichord in Cöthen
and Leipzig
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C. These works were more international in style than Bach's organ works D. Toccatas, BWV 910–11, begin with improvisatory running passages E. Well-Tempered Keyboard (Das wohltemperirte Clavier), 1722 and ca.
1740 1. Double set of preludes and fugues in each key 2. Part I is more unified in style than the second part 3. Part II includes compositions from all periods of Bach's life 4. Each prelude has a particular technical feature, similar to an étude 5. The pieces demonstrate different types of composition
F. Fugues for harpsichord and clavichord are monothematic and represent different types of fugal compositions
G. Suites for harpsichord 1. These three collections blend French and Italian qualities in a
personal style 2. Each set consists of the standard four-movement sequence
(allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue) with short movements following the sarabande
3. English Suites (1715) a. Each opens with a prelude imitating Italian ensemble
idioms, such as a concerto. b. The dances are based on French models and include
examples of the double, or ornamented repetition of a movement
H. Goldberg Variations (BWV 988, 1741 or 1742) 1. Published as part of the Clavier-übung 2. Thirty variations on a sarabande 3. All thirty variations preserve the bass and harmonic structure of the
theme 4. Every third variation is a canon, and the other variations are in
different forms IV. Other Instrumental Works
A. Works for solo instruments create the illusion of a harmonic and contrapuntal texture
1. Sonatas and partitas for violin alone (BWV 1001–6, 1720), suites for cello alone (BWV 1007–12, ca. 1720), partita for solo flute (BWV 1013)
2. Stringed instruments stop (play) several strings at once to create chords (e.g., in the famous chaconne from the violin partita in D minor)
B. Sonatas for one instrument with harpsichord 1. Six for violin; three for viola da gamba; six for flute 2. Four movements, slow-fast-slow-fast, as in the sonata da chiesa 3. The right hand part for the harpsichord often has a melodic role,
making these sonatas seem more like trio-sonatas C. Concertos
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1. Brandenburg concertos (BWV 1046–51) were composed in 1721 and dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg
a. Three-movement form was adapted from the Italian concerto (fast-slow-fast)
b. Allegro movements use ritornello form c. Long cadenzas and other devices expand the form d. The third and sixth are ripieno concertos—having no solo
instrument e. The others are concerti grossi, with varying combinations
of concertino instruments 2. Bach also wrote concertos for solo violin and one for two violins 3. Harpsichord concertos
a. Most, and possibly all, are arrangements of violin concertos b. Seven are for solo harpsichord with orchestra c. Others are for two, three, or four harpsichords with
orchestra D. Music for orchestra
1. Four Ouvertures, or orchestral suites (BWV 1066–69), include two that were probably intended for outdoor performance
2. These works contain some of his most attractive music E. A Musical Offering, Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079
1. Contains a variety of instrumental music for King Frederick the Great of Prussia, composed or revised after Bach visited him
2. Ricercares and canons on a single theme proposed by Frederick the Great (HWM, ex. 12.5)
3. Trio sonata for flute (the king's instrument), violin, and continuo F. The Art of the Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge) was intended to demonstrate
all types of fugal writing, but Bach did not finish it V. The Leipzig Years
A. Leipzig was a city of about 30,000 with a flourishing printing industry, one of Europe's oldest universities, a good theater, and an opera house
B. Bach was responsible for the music of Leipzig's two most important churches, St. Nicholas and St. Thomas
C. Bach was also responsible for teaching music and Latin at the St. Thomas School for boys
1. He and his family lived in a wing of the school 2. Bach vowed to lead an exemplary Christian life
VI. Cantatas A. Bach composed cantatas that would be performed at each church on
alternate Sundays; about two hundred have survived 1. There were several choirs, and the best choir sang the cantatas 2. The accompanying orchestra consisted of as many as two flutes,
two or three oboes, one or two bassoons, three trumpets, timpani, and strings with continuo, for a total of eighteen to twenty-four players drawn from the university, school, and community
B. The church cantatas figured prominently in the Lutheran liturgy of Leipzig
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1. The cantata subject was often linked to that of the Gospel reading that preceded it (see vignette of the events of the Lutheran service in HWM)
2. Fifty-eight cantatas per year were needed for the churches, along with other special music for church and civic ceremonies
3. Bach composed four complete cycles of cantatas for the church year by 1729
C. Bach's cantatas were composed with an infinite variety of musical features 1. Early cantatas reflect the emotions and images of the text 2. Later cantatas have more regular structures and less subjectivity 3. Pastor Erdmann Neumeister influenced Bach to include opera-like
recitatives and arias in cantatas a. Neumeister wrote texts for cantatas, and Bach used five of
them b. Nun komm', der Heiden Heiland (BWV 61, 1714) uses
Neumeister's texts i. Composed for the first Sunday of the church year
ii. First chorus in the form of a French overture 4. Chorale cantatas are based on chorale texts and melodies
a. Bach uses a variety of methods to treat the chorales b. Example: BWV 4, Christ lag in Todes Banden (Christ lay
in the bonds of death), 1708 i. The seven strophes of the chorale's text are set to
variations on the tune ii. After the opening sinfonia the sections are arranged
symmetrically around a quartet of soloists, possibly to symbolize the cross
c. Typical cantatas start and end with choral statements of the chorale, with interior movements only rarely referring to the chorale melody
d. NAWM 81, Wachet auf (Wake up), BWV 140 i. The opening chorus is the weightiest movement and
combines concerto form with cantus-firmus technique
ii. Two movements are indicated as arias and introduced with recitatives
a. Both arias are duets in operatic style b. The first ends with a repeat of the ritornello
instead of a full da capo c. The second is a true da capo aria
iii. The middle movement is constructed like a chorale prelude, with each phrase of the chorale sung by the tenor
iv. The final chorus doubles the note values of the tune and has the orchestra playing along with the chorus
D. Secular cantatas
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1. Bach titled these "dramma per musica." 2. He often reused music from secular cantatas in church or vice
versa 3. These were composed for special occasions, such as Schleicht,
spielende Wellen (Glide gently, playful waves) for a birthday in 1736
VII. Other Choral Works A. Motets
1. In Bach's time, a motet was a composition for chorus in contrapuntal style using a biblical or chorale text
2. They were usually short and were sung as introductions to the church service
3. Unlike the cantatas, the cantor was not expected to compose new ones for each service, so only six by Bach survive
4. Bach's motets were composed for special events and are longer than most motets
5. Four of Bach's motets are for double chorus 6. They use German texts
B. Magnificat, BWV 243 1. Composed in 1723 and revised ca. 1728–31 2. For five-part chorus and orchestra 3. More Italian in style than his other church music
C. Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 1. Produced at Leipzig, 1734–35 2. Actually a set of six cantatas for the Christmas season 3. Recitatives relate biblical narratives 4. Arias and chorales comment on episodes in the story
D. Passions 1. Bach composed two oratorio-style settings of the Passion story 2. One tells the version from John, chapters 18 and 19, with some
additional texts 3. The other uses the St. Matthew version (BWV 244)
a. It was first performed in 1727 b. A tenor narrates the text from Matthew (and some other
sources) c. The forces include a double chorus, double orchestra, and
two organs E. Mass in B Minor (BWV 232)
1. Compiled between 1747 and 1749 from music he had composed earlier
2. The Credo (NAWM 82) includes several different preexisting works:
a. Cruxifixus derived from a cantata b. Et expecto from a different cantata c. Patrem omnipotem from a different cantata
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d. Osanna from a cantata section also reused in a secular cantata
e. Agnus dei from a 1735 cantata f. Et resurrexit from a work that has not been identified by
scholars g. The opening and Confitebor newly composed in stile
antico, and et in unum dominum and Benedictus are in a more modern style
VIII. Reception History A. During Bach's lifetime
1. Only the Clavier-übung, The Art of the Fugue, and a few other works were published during his lifetime
2. Even before his death, in the 1720s and 1730s, new trends in Italian opera began to penetrate much of Europe, making Bach's style seem old-fashioned
3. See vignette in HWM by Scheibe (1737) criticizing Bach's style as being too complex and unnatural
B. 1750–1800 1. Musical taste changed radically about the time of Bach's death, so
his works were quickly forgotten 2. None of his large works was published during this time, although
some preludes and fugues appeared in print 3. The Well-Tempered Keyboard and some other works circulated in
manuscripts and many composers, including Haydn and Mozart, were familiar with at least some of Bach's works
C. Nineteenth century 1. Johann Nikolaus Forkel's 1802 biography of Bach was published 2. The St. Matthew Passion was revived in performances directed by
Carl Friedrich Zelter and Felix Mendelssohn (1829) 3. The 1850 establishment of the Bach Gesellschaft (Bach Society)
led to the collected edition of Bach's works, completed by 1900 The Life and Music of George Frideric Handel
I. Biographical Background A. Traveled more widely than Vivaldi, Rameau, and Bach B. Grew up in Halle, Germany
1. Took lessons from the church music director in Halle 2. Learned violin, oboe, organ, harpsichord 3. Studied counterpoint and became familiar with German and Italian
composers' music by copying their scores 4. Became cathedral organist in Halle but decided to compose opera
C. Years in Italy (1706–1710) helped lay the foundation of his style 1. Composed Latin motets, an oratorio, Italian cantatas, and one
opera, Agrippina 2. Met the major Italian composers of the time 3. Became friends with Domenico Scarlatti
D. London years (1710–1759)
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1. In 1710 Handel took a job in Hanover, Germany, but then took a leave of absence to produce his opera Rinaldo in London
2. He stayed in London longer than his leave allowed 3. According to legend, Handel composed a suite of pieces for wind
instruments when the elector of Hanover became King George I of England as a way of regaining favor. (These were published under the title Water Music.)
4. With the king and other influential people as his patrons, Handel would have a long and prosperous career in London
II. Italian Opera in London A. In 1718–19 a group of wealthy gentlemen started the Royal Academy of
Music to present operas to the London public B. Handel and others composed Italian operas for this company until 1727 C. In 1728 a change in taste forced the company to stop producing operas, so
Handel took over the theater in 1729 D. Handel continued to produce Italian operas during the 1730s, but in a
somewhat lighter style than his 1720s operas III. The Oratorio in London
A. In 1739 Handel started to compose oratorios because subscriptions to the operas were dwindling
B. Handel's oratorios were in English and appealed to a middle-class public C. His first oratorio of this period was Saul, and the second was The Messiah D. Every year during Lent he produced oratorios, and he improvised at the
organ during the intermissions E. Handel composed a total of twenty-six oratorios, including Semele (1709),
Judas Maccabeus (1746), and Jephtha (1751) F. Because of the popularity of his oratorios, England considered Handel's
music a national institution, and he was buried at Westminster Abbey IV. Instrumental Music
A. Keyboard music 1. Three sets of concertos for harpsichord or organ 2. Two collections of suites for harpsichord (1720 and 1733) 3. Twenty solo sonatas
B. Trio sonatas influenced by Corelli and by later Italian composers C. Orchestral music includes the Water Music suite (1717), Music for the
Royal Fireworks (1749), and concertos for woodwinds and strings D. His concerti grossi, Opus 6, expand on the form
1. Added movements 2. More unification between concertino and tutti 3. Dignified but with occasional decorative figuration in the solo
lines 4. Concerto Grosso No. 6 in G Minor exemplifies the range of
Handel's orchestral writing V. Handel's Operas
A. His operas were produced in London, Germany, and Italy during his lifetime
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B. Librettos 1. He chose librettos based on the cast he could assemble rather than
the subject matter, because the audiences couldn't understand the Italian words and cared more about hearing their favorite singers
2. Often he had seen another composer's setting of a libretto and could envision ways of adapting it for London, or ways to express the feelings portrayed
3. Subjects were magical and adventurous stories drawn from the lives of Roman heroes or the Crusades
C. Recitatives develop the action 1. Recitativo secco (accompanied by harpsichord) for most action 2. Recitativo obbligato (accompanied by the orchestra) for the
particularly stirring moments 3. The two types of recitative are sometimes combined with short
arias or ariosos to make large scene-complexes, as in Orlando (end of Act II) and Giulio Cesare
D. Arias represent a single mood or affection, or two contrasting but related moods
1. Arias were allocated according to the importance of each member of the cast
2. Arias had to display the singers' vocal and dramatic powers 3. Handel composed in a variety of aria types and styles
a. Many but not all are in da capo form. Some are simpler b. Compositional techniques included coloratura displays,
pathetic songs, regal grandeur, and folklike melodies 4. He also used several styles of orchestral accompaniment
a. Sometimes the arias are all'unisono (strings playing in unison with the voice
b. Sometimes the tone color of a particular instrument sets the mood, such as the use of the French horn to portray a hunting horn in Giulio Cesare
c. Sometimes the orchestra is divided into soli and tutti in the manner of a concerto grosso (e.g., NAWM 83, V'adoro, pupille)
i. The concertino group (notated above Cleopatra's line) accompanies the voice
ii. The tutti orchestra complements the accompaniment and punctuates the aria; it is silent during the B section of the aria
E. Later works, especially Serse (1738) and Deidamia (1741), incorporate a more modern style, with clearly articulated phrases and simple accompaniments
VI. Handel's English Oratorios A. Handel's English oratorios constitute their own genre compared to Italian
oratorios, which were hardly more than concert operas on sacred subjects 1. Elements from Italian oratorios:
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a. Dialogue set in recitative b. Lyrical verses set as arias c. Arias in styles, forms, and aesthetics similar to those of
Italian opera d. Recitatives prepare the mood of each aria
2. Elements from the English masque, the choral anthem, and other dramatic forms were incorporated into the Italian style to form Handel's unique approach to the genre
B. Librettos 1. All the biblical stories he used were from the Old Testament and
were familiar to middle-class Protestant England 2. In an era of prosperity and an expanding empire, English people
felt a kinship with the victorious chosen people of the Old Testament
3. Handel composed oratorios and other choral music for important state occasions
4. Some oratorios were on mythological or historical subjects C. Use of chorus
1. England's choral tradition impressed him, and he borrowed from Anglican church music styles
2. Choruses often comment on the action of an oratorio instead of an aria
3. Example: NAWM 84, O fatal consequences of Rage from Saul a. Three fugues ending with majestic homorhythmic passages
reflect on the morality of the situation in the story b. The first fugue is based on a piece by Antonio Francesco
Urio, as are other passages in Saul c. Borrowing from his own or others' music was a common
practice of his day 4. Action choruses are those in which the chorus narrates or
participates in the action of the story 5. Musical symbolism, especially word-painting, is common in
Handel's choral writing; for example, "All we like sheep have gone astray" in The Messiah uses diverging melodic lines
6. Handel's choral style is simpler than Bach's and less contrapuntal, but his use of vocal range and choral sound achieve grandiose effects
D. Handel's attempt to appeal to middle-class audiences and his blending of older with more modern styles are partly responsible for his continuing popularity
The Enlightenment
I. The Enlightenment A. This was a social and philosophical movement that challenged
assumptions of the Baroque era B. The well-being of the individual was of utmost importance
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C. In France, especially, social reformers objected to inequality, and many of their ideas found their way into the ideals of American government
D. Scientific discoveries led to an increased reliance on reason rather than religion
E. Natural principles became more important II. Aspects of Eighteenth-Century Life
A. Europe was very cosmopolitan, due partly to intermarriages among its noble families
B. In important centers artists, poets, and musicians gathered from all over Europe
C. Vienna was a cosmopolitan center where German, French, and Italian artistic tastes mingled
D. Middle-class people became interested in the fine arts and began attending public concerts and buying published music
E. People wanted a universal musical language that was natural and simple enough to be pleasing to a listener
F. During the 1730s and 1740s the older (Baroque) style coexisted with newer simpler styles
III. Terminology for Musical Style in the 1730s and 1740s A. Several terms have been used by historians but not all of these were in use
in the eighteenth century B. Classic
1. The narrowest definition denotes the style associated with the mature styles of Haydn and Mozart
2. The term was applied to music as an analogy to Greek and Roman art
3. The "Classic Period" in music is approximately 1730 to 1815 C. Rococo is an architectural term for an ornamented French style
incorporating delicate, curved embellishments D. Galant was a term for everything modern and sophisticated
1. It was characterized by an emphasis on melodies built up from repeated small motives organized into short phrases
2. Phrases were combined into larger periods 3. Harmony was simple, with frequent cadences
E. Empfindsamkeit translates as "sentimentality" or "sensibility" 1. Refined passion and melancholy 2. Used especially in slow movements 3. Sentiment is expressed by surprising turns of harmony,
chromaticism, and free rhythms IV. New Concepts of Melody, Harmony, and Form
A. Baroque phrasing 1. Baroque melodic style was to spin out a single melodic-rhythmic
subject embodying a single affection 2. Sequential repetition of phrases with infrequent cadences resulted
in integrated movements without sharp contrasts B. Phrasing in newer styles
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1. Periodicity was breaking up melodic flow with a succession of short distinct phrases of two to four measures in length
2. Antecedent and consequent phrases were typical forms 3. Principles of rhetoric and grammar were applied to music (see
Forkel vignette in HWM) C. Harmony in the newer styles
1. Slower harmonic motion than in the music of the late Baroque 2. The Alberti bass set chords in repeating patterns to animate the
simple harmonies without distracting from the melodies 3. Contrasting key areas set parts of movements or different themes
apart 4. Harmony became a means to stimulate the intellect of the listener
rather than the passions D. Music and rhetoric
1. Contrasts gave the listener opposing affects or ideas 2. Musical form included intellectual or emotional dialogs, expanding
the concept of rhetoric in music Vocal Music
I. Early Italian Comic Opera A. Italian musical theater of the early eighteenth century gave rise to many of
the stylistic traits of the Classic period B. Opera buffa (also called dramma giocoso, or commedia in musica)
1. Full-length work was sung throughout, with six or more singing characters
2. Plots caricatured the faults of both aristocrats and commoners 3. Characters often resembled the stock characters of the commedia
dell'arte, improvised comedies of Italy 4. Plots revolved around serious characters who interacted with
comedic characters 5. Dialogue was set in rapidly delivered recitative with keyboard
accompaniment 6. Arias
a. Used short tuneful phrases accompanied by simple harmonies
b. Were often in da capo form c. Example: Le zite 'ngalera (The Spinsters in the Galley) by
Leonardo Vinci (HWM, ex. 13.3) C. Intermezzo (pl. intermezzi)
1. Originated as short comic musical interludes between the acts of a serious opera or play
2. Plots were mostly comedies involving a few ordinary people, sometimes parodying the principal drama
3. Music consisted of arias and recitative 4. Example: La serva padrona by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–
1736)
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a. Performed in 1733 between the acts of his own Il prigionier superbo
b. NAWM 85 depicts a dialogue between maid and her employer in a variety of moods
II. Opera seria A. Three-act operas whose plots had no comic scenes or characters B. The poet who established its conventions was Pietro Metastasio (1698–
1782) 1. Many eighteenth-century composers used his librettos 2. His librettos were produced in Naples, Rome, Venice, and Vienna 3. He sought to promote morality through entertainment by
portraying heroic characters from ancient Greek or Latin stories C. The conventional cast consists of two pairs of lovers with subordinate
characters D. Stories usually end with a heroic deed or sublime renunciation by the
principal character E. Music consists of alternating recitatives and arias
1. Recitatives develop the action through dialogue 2. Arias are soliloquys in which a principal actor reacts to the events
of the previous scene 3. Occasionally there are duets, larger ensembles, or choruses
F. Recitatives 1. Recitativo semplice
a. Fast-moving dialogue b. Accompaniment by harpsichord and a bass instrument c. Used for most dialogue
2. Recitativo obbligato a. Used for the most important dramatic situations b. The orchestra accompanies the singer and alternates with
the voice III. Arias
A. These were usually in da capo form with variations in detail. Metastasio's two-stanza texts set the standard for the 1720s–1740s (e.g., NAWM 85)
1. Opening ritornello announcing the melodic material of the A section
2. First A section, in the tonic, modulating to the dominant or a related key
3. Short ritornello 4. Second A section starting in the dominant or a related key, often
ending with a florid passage 5. B section
a. Heard only once b. Syllabic text setting c. Light accompaniment d. Sometimes in a different tempo and meter
6. Fermatas at the ends of both sections allowed cadenzas
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B. In the mid-eighteenth century composers began shortening the repetition of the A section by beginning the repeat later, as indicated by a sign and the words dal segno (e.g., NAWM 85)
C. Singers began to demand that composers and librettists accommodate their desire for virtuosic display
1. Sometimes composers had to change or substitute arias to the detriment of the drama
2. Singers added displays and cadenzas excessively 3. In 1720 the composer Benedetto Marcello anonymously published
a satire Il teatro alla moda (The Fashionable Theater) detailing singers' excesses
D. Arias began to borrow principles from instrumental forms in the mid-eighteenth century
1. A sections included contrasting affections, often in two keys 2. Ritornellos began to introduce material from both A and B sections 3. Melodies used four-measure antecedent and consequent phrases,
deviating for effect E. Hasse was the master of the opera seria
1. He spent many years in Italy and worked at the court of the elector of Saxony in Dresden. He was the most popular and successful opera composer in Europe in the middle of the century
2. Most of his operas use Metastasio librettos 3. Example: NAWM 86 from Cleofide, composed for Hasse's wife,
Faustina Bordoni, a professional singer a. Da capo form with parallel phrasing b. HWM, ex. 13.5, shows how this melody would have been
embellished in the da capo repetition IV. Comic Opera
A. Took different forms in different countries; usually written in the vernacular. It responded to the demand for naturalness and was the earliest step toward musical nationalism, which would be prominent in the nineteenth century
B. Italy 1. Dramma giocoso (cheerful drama) replaced opera buffa
a. Developed by dramatist Carlo Goldoni b. Included more serious plot elements alongside comic ones c. Example: Niccolò Picinni's La buona figliuola (The Good
Girl, 1720) d. Example: Il matrimonio segreto (The Secret Marriage) by
Domenico Cimarosa, which premiered in Vienna in 1792 2. Italian comic opera exploited the possibilities of the bass voice 3. Ensemble finales at the ends of acts were particular to comic opera
in Italy a. All the characters are gradually brought on stage b. The action continues with growing animation c. At the climactic end all the singers take part
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C. France 1. Opéra comique was the French version of light opera 2. At mid-century its songs were mostly popular tunes 3. In 1752 an Italian comic opera troupe performed Pergolesi's La
serva padrona, inspiring composers to create a mixed Italian-French style
4. A pamphlet war in 1752 known as the Querelle des bouffons (Quarrel of the comic actors) involved nearly every intellectual in France
a. One faction, led by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), argued that the French language was unsuitable for singing
b. The other faction supported French styles 5. Rousseau wrote Le Devin du village (The Village Soothsayer), a
little opera in French using Italian melodic styles (HWM, ex. 13.6) 6. Opéra comique alternated spoken dialogue with melodious musical
numbers and dealt with social issues; example: Grétry's Richard Coeur-de-Lion (Richard the Lion-Hearted, 1784)
D. England 1. The ballad opera became popular, as England rebelled against
foreign opera 2. The Beggar's Opera by John Gay (1728) satirized Italian opera
a. Consists of popular tunes, usually ballads b. A few numbers parody operatic airs (e.g., NAWM 87) c. Enormously popular, inspiring other ballad operas
E. Germany 1. The Singspiel had been the German comic opera type since the
sixteenth century 2. The English ballad opera inspired a revival of the Singspiel 3. Singspiel tunes became very popular 4. In northern Germany Singspiel merged with more serious opera 5. Audiences in Vienna preferred farcical subjects with lively music
inspired by Italian comic opera V. Opera Reform
A. Beginnings 1. Some Italian composers wanted opera to be more natural
a. They wanted more flexibility in recitatives and arias in order to make the action more logical
b. They used the orchestra more and reinstated choruses c. They resisted the demands of the singers
2. Nicolò Jommelli (1714–1774) and Tommaso Traetta (1727–1779) were two of the reformers
a. Both worked at courts where French tastes were predominant
b. Traetta aimed to combine the best of French tragédie lyrique and Italian opera seria, and borrowed material from Rameau
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B. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787) synthesized French and Italian opera
1. He traveled throughout Europe 2. He was influenced by the Italian reform movement and vowed to
purge Italian opera of its abuses and excesses (see vignette in HWM) in the interest of drama
a. He did not want singers' wishes or the da capo form to restrict the composer
b. He wanted the overture to be an integral part of the opera c. He lessened the contrast between recitative and aria d. His goal was a "beautiful simplicity" (e.g., Che farò senza
Euridice? from Orfeo) e. His choruses were more integral to the action (e.g., NAWM
88, Chorus of the Furies) 3. His mature style integrated Italian, German, and French styles 4. He wanted to prove that the French language could be used
successfully in opera, and his Iphigénie en Aulide (Iphigenia in Aulis), 1774, used a French text to demonstrate this
5. Gluck continued to compose operas to French librettos, and his operas became models for later composers working in Paris
VI. Other Vocal Music A. The lied (German song) achieved a special artistic importance
1. Parody songs (songs in which words were written to fit existing instrumental melodies) were popular
2. The first collection of lieder was Die singende Muse an der Pleisse (The Singing Music on the Pleisse River), published in 1736
3. After the middle of the century the center for lieder composition was Berlin
a. Berlin composers set lieder strophically, with syllabic text setting.
b. Berlin lieder used folklike melodies and the simplest possible accompaniments
4. By the end of the century composers wanted more flexibility in form and gave the accompaniment more independence
5. Nearly all Singspiel composers also wrote lieder 6. Lieder composition continued to be important in the nineteenth
century B. Church music conformed to the prevailing secular style
1. Only a few composers continued to compose in the stile antico of Palestrina
2. Leading Italian composers in secular genres also composed church music
3. Italian oratorios were almost indistinguishable from operas 4. Outside of Italy secular and conservative styles mixed in sacred
music
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5. Lutheran church music became less important, although some composers' oratorios were popular
6. In England, Baroque styles persisted in the anthem and hymn settings
Instrumental Music
I. The Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) A. Biographical background
1. Son of Alessandro Scarlatti 2. Left Italy in 1720 or 1721 to work for the king of Portugal 3. Moved to Madrid in 1729 and served the Spanish court the rest of
his life 4. Wrote 555 keyboard sonatas, few of which were published in his
lifetime B. Scarlatti's sonatas
1. Example: NAWM 89 a. Two repeated sections (binary form) b. The sonata opens with several musical ideas; the last is the
central idea c. The central idea imitates the sound of the Spanish guitar d. The second section develops the central idea, arriving at a
climax that uses all but one of the notes of the key simultaneously
2. Most of his sonatas from after 1745 appeared in pairs in manuscripts
a. The result is a two-movement sonata b. Both sonatas have the same keynote, although one may be
major and the other minor 3. Scarlatti's style was imitated by a few Iberian composers, notably
Antonio Soler (1729–1783), but it was not influential in other parts of Europe
II. The Sonata Form A. Most instrumental music of the Classic era followed a three- or four-
movement form with a first movement commonly known as the sonata form or first-movement form
B. The sonata form was described by Heinrich Christoph Koch in his 1787 Versuch einer Anleitung zur Composition (Introductory Essay on Composition) (see vignette in HWM)
1. Two large divisions, each of which may be repeated a. There are three periods in the sonata form b. The first division has one period c. The second division has two periods
2. The form of the first division a. The principal ideas start in the key of the movement and
modulate to the tonic of a second key b. The first period continues in the new key (dominant or
relative major)
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3. The form of the second division a. The second period begins with the main theme in the new
key and modulates back to the tonic by means of another melodic idea
b. The third period begins with the main theme in the key of the movement, then reviews other melodic ideas of the movement, and finishes with the same material that closed the first period, transposed to the tonic
C. Sonata form by the 1830s 1. Exposition, usually repeated, incorporates groups of themes:
a. An introduction sometimes precedes the Exposition b. The first theme group is in the tonic c. A bridge passage leads to a second theme group d. A second theme group is in the dominant or relative major,
with a more lyrical character e. A closing theme is in the dominant or relative major
2. Development presents themes from the Exposition in new aspects or combinations and modulates to new and sometimes remote
3. Recapitulation restates material from the Exposition in the original order, but with all now in the tonic
4. Composers sometimes followed this form exactly but were free to depart from it
III. Early Symphonies A. Evolved from the Italian opera overture (sinfonia) B. Opera overtures assumed a three-movement structure around 1700
1. The first movement was Allegro 2. The second movement was a short lyrical Andante 3. The finale used dance rhythms, such as minuet or gigue
C. The earliest concert symphonies date from around 1730 D. Example: Sammartini's Symphony in F Major (1744), NAWM 90
1. The movements are Presto-Andante-Allegro 2. The first movement is in binary form fitting Koch's description of
symphonic first movements IV. The Empfindsam Style
A. Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784), the eldest son of J. S. Bach, sometimes composed with sudden contrasts of mood and intensely personal emotions
B. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was more influential than his brother 1. He served at the court of Frederick the Great in Berlin and in
churches in Hamburg 2. He composed more for keyboard than for any other medium 3. Most of his keyboard sonatas were written for the clavichord,
which was capable of delicate dynamic shadings 4. Later he composed for the "fortepiano." 5. His keyboard works were in the empfindsam style (e.g., NAWM
91)
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a. Constantly changing rhythmic patterns give the music a restless quality
b. Abrupt shifts of harmony and strange modulations provided surprise
c. Ornamentation serves expressive purposes rather than being an accessory to melody
d. Passages in dialogue or recitative style add to emotionality C. This style climaxed in the 1760s and 1770s D. Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) was the parallel movement in
German literature V. German Symphonic Composers
A. The Mannheim orchestra 1. Johann Stamitz (1717–1757) led the Mannheim orchestra 2. Renowned for its virtuosity 3. Known for its dynamic range, from pianissimo to fortissimo,
adapted from the Italian opera overture 4. Known for the effective use of crescendo 5. Example: NAWM 92, Sinfonia in E-flat
a. Published in the mid-1750s b. A crescendo builds excitement with string tremolos
B. Vienna was home to several symphony composers: 1. Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715–1777) 2. Michael HaydnError! Bookmark not defined. (1737–1806) 3. The Viennese style was good-natured lyricism 4. Sonata-form movements used contrasting theme groups
C. Berlin was home to a north German school clustered around Frederick the Great
1. Included C. P. E. Bach 2. Three-movement symphonies
VI. Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782) A. Youngest son of J. S. Bach B. An important composer of symphonies and concertos for the pianoforte C. Studied in Italy and produced two operas in Naples D. Moved to London and worked as a composer, performer, teacher, and
impresario E. Composed forty keyboard concertos between 1763 and 1777 F. Most of his concertos were for the pianoforte (e.g., NAWM 93)
1. Principal ideas introduced in an orchestral exposition, all in the tonic
2. A second exposition for the soloist puts the secondary and closing themes in a contrasting key
3. A modulatory developmental section 4. Recapitulation in the tonic 5. The orchestra plays transitional passages and reinforces cadences,
in the tradition of the ritornello structure of the Baroque 6. Mozart also used this format (e.g., NAWM 99)
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VII. Orchestral Music in France A. Paris was an important center of composition and publication of
symphonic music in the mid-eighteenth century B. Austrian and Italian composers published symphonies in France C. François-Joseph Gossec (1734–1829) composed symphonies, comic
operas, and works for special occasions D. The symphonie concertante, a concerto-like work for two or more solo
instruments, was a popular genre in Paris VIII. The Orchestra in the Eighteenth Century
A. By the end of the century the typical orchestra numbered twenty-five to thirty-five players
1. Strings played the essential material 2. One flute and pairs of oboes and bassoons were used for doubling
the strings or reinforcing the harmony. Later in the century winds played more important parts
3. A pair of horns and sometimes also trumpets 4. Sometimes kettledrums 5. Sometimes brass and wind instruments were added even when not
called for in the score 6. The basso continuo was gradually abandoned
B. The leader of the violins was responsible for conducting C. In Vienna, orchestras performed serenades for outdoor or informal events
IX. Chamber music favors the keyboard, although the Mannheim composer Franz Xaver Richter composed concertante quartets for four strings
Franz Joseph Haydn
I. Biographical Background A. Early years
1. Born in Rohrau, Austria 2. At the age of seven he went to Vienna to be a choirboy 3. After his voice changed he was a freelance musician and teacher 4. He learned composition from books and private lessons 5. He working briefly for a Viennese count
B. Esterházy years 1. 1762, hired by Prince Paul Anton Esterházy of Hungary; worked
for him then for his brother Prince Nicholas from 1766 to 1790 2. Lived and worked at the lavish country estate of Eszterháza 3. The Eszterháza estate had an opera house, a theater for marionette
plays, and two large music rooms 4. Haydn's duties
a. Compose whatever music the prince demanded b. Conduct performances c. Train and supervise musicians d. Keep the instruments in good repair
5. Operas and concerts were weekly events 6. The prince played the baryton in chamber music ensembles
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7. Visitors helped Haydn stay abreast of musical developments but his isolation gave him the opportunity to develop an original style
C. London years 1. After Prince Nicholas died, his son Anton disbanded the orchestra 2. Haydn went to Vienna briefly 3. He composed symphonies for two series of concerts in London
D. Vienna years 1. After Anton Esterházy's death his son hired Haydn to direct music
for his court in Vienna 2. Haydn's principal obligation was to compose one Mass a year 3. In his free time Haydn also composed two oratorios and some
chamber music II. Haydn's Symphonies
A. Haydn's symphonic form 1. Early symphonies used a three-movement form derived from the
Italian opera overture (sinfonia): Allegro—Andante (in parallel minor or subdominant)—Minuet or Gigue
2. Some have four movements in the same key, derived form the sonata da chiesa (Andante—Allegro—Minuet—Presto)
3. First movements (e.g., NAWM 94) a. Sometimes begin with a slow and harmonically unstable
introduction b. Symmetrical phrasing alternating stable and unstable
phrases c. Thematic material presented in string and wind ensembles d. Tutti passages for transitions and to punctuate phrasing e. Developments present themes in any order and are short in
his early symphonies f. Sometimes the second thematic section is based on the first g. Sometimes the arrival of the recapitulation is disguised
4. Second movements were calm and gentle, offering an antidote to the intellectually demanding first movement
5. Minuet and trio movements contain some of his most charming music
a. Minuets in two-part form: ||: a ||: a' (a) :|| b. Trios
i. In similar form ii. Usually in the parallel key
iii. Shorter than the minuet and with lighter orchestration
c. The minuet returns da capo 6. Haydn's presto finales were better closing movements than minuets
and trios a. In his early symphonies the 3/8 and 6/8 finales were too
light to close symphonies
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b. In the 1760s he started composing whimsical final movements in fast-moving duple meter
B. Early symphonies (to 1768) 1. Primary themes were easily broken up and recombined 2. Three symphonies had titles: Le Matin, Le Midi, and Le Soir
(Morning, Noon, Evening) 3. Many of the 1760s symphonies are experimental in form and
instrumentation C. The symphonies of 1768–74
1. These symphonies represent his mature style 2. Haydn grew to consider the symphony a serious work that
demanded close listening 3. Some of these symphonies have an intensity of feeling that
suggests he was influenced by the new attitude that orchestral music could portray "the sublime"
4. The scale of form is larger than in his earlier symphonies 5. Haydn interjected more dramatic elements, such as dynamic
changes and more propulsive development sections 6. The slow movements are usually in sonata form, with romantically
expressive warmth 7. Haydn sometimes manipulates standard forms
a. In the minuet of Symphony No. 47 the second sections of the minuet and of the trio consist of the first sections played backward
b. In the Farewell Symphony (No. 45) Haydn reduces the orchestra over the course of the finale, leaving only two violins at the end, possibly as a hint to Prince Esterházy
D. The symphonies of 1774–88 1. Beginning in 1774 Haydn's symphonies are less expressive and
less experimental 2. Serious and impressive yet intelligible and appealing, in keeping
with audiences' expectations, e.g., NAWM 94, Symphony No. 56 3. The Paris Symphonies (Nos. 82–87)
a. Commissioned for the Concerts de la Loge Olympique in Paris
b. Queen Marie Antoinette was fond of No. 85, "La Reine" (The Queen)
c. Critics marveled at his ability to achieve variety with a single theme
4. Symphonies Nos. 88–92 a. Four begin with slow introductions b. Many of the slow movements close with introspective
codas featuring winds (e.g., NAWM 95) c. Contrapuntal devices and texture help to add weight to the
finales III. The London Symphonies
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A. Haydn was commissioned to compose and conduct six symphonies for London in 1790, and later six more
B. He adapted his style to suit the conditions of the performance C. To live up to the reputation that preceded him in London, he composed
symphonies designed to please the audience 1. Brilliant orchestration 2. Daring harmonic conceptions 3. Intensified rhythmic drive 4. More memorable thematic inventions 5. Dramatic situations, such as the sudden fortissimo on a weak beat
in the Surprise Symphony (No. 94) 6. Tunefulness, including folk melodies remembered from his youth
(e.g., NAWM 104's imitation of a bagpipe) 7. The orchestra for these symphonies includes instruments not used
in earlier symphonies, or expanded use of instruments a. Trumpets in slow movements b. The newly developed clarinet appears in five of the London
symphonies c. Many instruments have more independent roles than
previously D. Form and harmony in the London symphonies
1. Slow introductions in the minor mode for a sense of expectation leading to a fast movement in major mode
2. Sonata form movements revolve around a primary subject that pervades the contrasting key area as well
3. Finales were often in rondo form a. Some use ABACABA form b. Some combined sonata form with rondo, with the C
corresponding to a development section IV. Haydn's String Quartets
A. To 1781 (Opp. 1, 2, 17, 20, 33) 1. Haydn was the first great master of the string quartet 2. The first violin plays the most virtuosic part, but the cello
gradually assumes a more melodic role 3. The four movements are the same as those of the symphony,
except for a few quartets in which the slow movement and the minuet and trio are reversed
4. Some of the finales are fugal (e.g., HWM, ex. 14.5) 5. Haydn claimed that the Opus 33 quartets, composed nine years
after Op. 20, were written in a "new and special way" a. Lighthearted and witty b. Tuneful c. Fun for the players, who were amateurs performing in
noble homes d. Minuets are titled "scherzo" (Italian for jest) and play with
audiences' expectations
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e. Finales are rondo or variation forms f. Example: NAWM 97, "The Joke"
i. Finale in rondo form ii. Haydn wittily thwarts audiences' expectations with
pauses and delayed resolutions after building to cadences
B. 1785–90 quartets (Opp. 42, 50, 54, 55, 64) 1. In Op. 50 Haydn increasingly uses monothematic first movements,
in which the second theme is actually the first theme transposed to dominant
2. Slow movements are often in theme and variations form C. The last quartets (Opp. 71, 74, 76, 77)
1. Sonata forms continue to be monothematic 2. Harmony is more expanded, with chromatic progressions and
augmented sixth chords 3. Serious and jocular elements are juxtaposed 4. Minuets spoof the formality of the genre but are not as playful as
the Op. 33 minuets V. Keyboard Sonatas
A. Early sonatas can be performed on harpsichords B. His later sonatas call for dynamics that can only be done on a pianoforte C. Early sonatas (to 1771) contain emotionality of the empfindsam style D. Sonatas written in 1773 (nos. 21–26) are dedicated to Prince Esterházy
1. Relaxation and lightening of style 2. All are in major keys, but the first movements often use the
relative minor in place of the dominant for contrasting key areas E. Late sonatas
1. Example: No. 49 in E flat (1789–90), composed for a friend 2. Sonata No. 52 was composed in 1794 for virtuoso Therese Jensen
Bartolozzi a. Published as a "Grand Sonata for the Piano Forte" b. Exploits the possibilities of newly developed pianos c. Uses the Neapolitan-related key in the development section
of the first movement and in the following movement (Adagio)
VI. Haydn's Vocal Works A. Operas
1. Haydn's fifteen operas were successful in their day but were never revived
2. Haydn supervised the production of seventy-five operas by other composers at Esterháza
3. Most of his operas were high-spirited dramma giocoso works 4. Three serious operas, including the "heroic drama" Armida (1784)
B. Haydn composed unpretentious songs in English for voice with keyboard and arranged Scottish and Welsh airs
C. Masses
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1. Haydn composed most of his Masses for Prince Nicholas II Esterházy between 1796 and 1802
2. Large-scale, using full orchestra, chorus, and four solo vocalists 3. Cheerful character with similarities to the opera and symphony 4. Traditional elements
a. Choral fugues at the end of the Gloria and the Credo b. Contrapuntal writing for solo voices
5. Expanded role for the orchestra, which included trumpet and timpani
6. The best known are his Missa in angustiis (Mass for Troubled Times, 1798), also known as the Lord Nelson Mass or Imperial Mass and the Missa in tempore belli (Mass in Time of War, 1796), also known as the Paukenmesse or Kettledrum Mass
D. Oratorios 1. While in London Haydn became familiar with Handel's oratorios,
including the Messiah 2. Enlightenment ideas influence the religious messages of Die
Schöpfung (The Creation, 1798) and Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons, 1801)
a. Loving depiction of nature and delight in the simple life b. Instrumental sections are programmatic, e.g., Depiction of
Chaos at the beginning of The Creation Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I. Early Life A. Born in 1756 in Salzburg, the seat of a major political unit within the
German Empire and a center of the arts B. His father, Leopold
1. Assistant musical director at the archbishop's chapel 2. Composer 3. Wrote a famous treatise on violin playing 4. Devoted his life to the musical careers of Wolfgang and his sister
Marianne ("Nannerl") C. Wolfgang became a virtuoso on keyboard and violin. D. From 1762 to 1771 he gave public performances of prepared pieces, sight-
reading, and improvisation. E. He began composing at the age of five, and composed his first symphony
at age eight F. His father's teaching and his concertizing familiarized him with every kind
of music performed during those years. His own work synthesized these styles
II. Mozart's Early Influences (to ca. 1773) A. Under the tutelage of his father he learned the styles of many composers B. From Johann Schobert (d. 1767) he learned how keyboard instruments
could simulate the effect of an orchestra C. He met and admired Johann Christian Bach, and arranged three of Bach's
sonatas as piano concertos
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D. From Johann Christian Bach, Mozart learned to enrich instrumental genres with operatic gestures
E. From trips to Vienna Mozart was inspired to compose operas F. During trips to Italy Mozart learned counterpoint and was influenced by
the Italian symphonists, including Sammartini G. During his 1773 stay in Vienna he became more familiar with Haydn's
symphonies; he incorporated some aspects of Haydn's style in two symphonies
III. The Salzburg Years (1774–1781) A. Mozart worked for the Archbishop of Salzburg, but he was unhappy with
the limited opportunities Salzburg offered and made a number of tours in search of a secure position
B. He started to receive commissions, including one for an opera for Munich (Idomeneo, 1781)
C. He decided to go to Vienna to try to make a living freelancing D. Sonatas and other chamber music
1. Thirteen sonatas for piano 2. Several sets of variations for piano, including K. 265=300e on Ah,
vous dirais-je maman (Twinkle, twinkle, little star) 3. Sonatas for violin and piano
E. Serenades and divertimentos 1. Serenades (now called divertimentos) were popular for outdoor
entertainment in Salzburg 2. Although he composed them as background music, Mozart took
these works seriously 3. The style is simple and charming—for example, Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik (A Little Night-Music, K. 525) for string quintet or small string ensemble
F. Solo concertos 1. Three for violin—Mozart's last violin concertos 2. Piano concerto K. 271 in E-flat Major began a long series of great
works 3. Symphonie Concertante K. 364 for violin and viola
IV. Mozart's Vienna Years (1781–1791) A. At first he was successful as a freelance performer, teacher, and composer
1. He produced a Singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Harem, 1782), which was performed repeatedly
2. He had many students and was idolized by the public B. By 1788 the public had deserted him and he resorted to begging friends
for money C. His mature style developed during his Vienna years
1. He continued to study the music of Haydn and began to study J. S. Bach's music
2. He synthesized the galant and the learned styles
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D. His piano works from this period were his greatest in the genre and would influence Beethoven and Schubert
E. His chamber works include six string quartets dedicated to Haydn (1782–5) and influenced by Haydn's later quartets, two string quintets, and a clarinet quintet (clarinet plus string quartet), K. 581
F. Only six symphonies in his last ten years 1. Many of his earlier symphonies served as theatrical curtain raisers 2. His Vienna symphonies were the main feature on Vienna concert
programs, or were at least considered equal to other works on the program, such as concertos
3. While each of these works is unique, they share a number of common features:
a. More elaborate and demanding woodwind parts b. Harmonic complexity and chromaticism c. Greater contrapuntal complexity d. Climactic final movements e. Striking opening gestures
4. The Jupiter Symphony combines disparate elements that are wedded together: forceful unison statements to open the work, followed by delicate ensemble responses, and heroic elements combining with whimsical ones
5. Some of his symphonies recall Mozart's other works, for example, the opening of the G-minor symphony (K. 550) is similar to Cherubino's aria Non so più cosa son from Le nozze de Figaro
6. Finales are similar to those of Haydn's late symphonies a. They balance the serious and important first movement and
combine counterpoint and whimsy b. The coda at the end of the Jupiter Symphony links five
themes together in a tour de force of the ars combinatoria, the art of musical combination and permutation
V. Concertos A. Many of the seventeen concertos for piano that Mozart composed while in
Vienna were for his own concerts B. The concertos fuse virtuosic display and accessible melody with learned
counterpoint and great subtlety C. Form combines Baroque and Classical features (e.g., NAWM 99)
1. Three-movement sequence: fast-slow-fast 2. The first movement combines the ritornello of the Baroque with
the sonata form a. The exposition opens with an orchestral ritornello that
functions as first and second theme groups b. The piano enters with the same material, creating a second
exposition c. Where the development should be, Mozart uses new
material with the strings acting as a "ripieno" group
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d. A transitional tutti begins the recapitulation, which is punctuated by a theme from the "development," and ends with a six-four chord and a pause
e. The soloist improvises an extended cadenza f. The movement closes with the same tutti that ended the
orchestral exposition 3. The second movement of a Mozart concerto is like a lyrical aria,
usually in the subdominant, in a modified sonata or rondo form 4. Finales are in rondo or sonata-rondo form using themes with a
popular character, with many opportunities to dazzle the audience with virtuosic displays
5. Mozart sketched or fully notated several cadenzas for his own concertos
a. His earlier cadenzas were not thematically linked to their movements
b. The cadenzas from the 1780s acted as second development sections
VI. Operas A. La clemenza di Tito (The Mercy of Titus, 1791) was his only serious opera
after Idomeneo B. His other late operas included three on Italian librettos by Lorenzo da
Ponte and two in German C. Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro, 1786) is a comic opera with a
deeper level of characterization and social conscience 1. Da Ponte's libretto is based on a comic play by Beaumarchais 2. Mozart's music intensifies the character development and social
tensions between classes, especially in duets and ensembles D. Don Giovanni (1787), a dramma giocoso
1. Based on a medieval legendary character who had often been portrayed as a farcical blasphemer
2. Mozart portrays him as an individualistic romantic hero 3. Although the characters are subtly ridiculed they must also be
taken seriously 4. Example: NAWM 100a
a. Elvira's personality is characterized through wide leaps and agitated runs and tremolos
b. Don Giovanni's character is more lighthearted and mocking 5. Leporello's seemingly idle patter in the Catalogue aria (NAWM
100b) combines humor and pathos a. Leporello lists (i.e., catalogues) the types of women his
master likes b. The fast pace (i.e., patter) of the list is in a humorous
tradition, yet Mozart's setting compels the listener to take the scene seriously
E. Così fan tutte is an opera buffa F. Die Entführung is a Singspiel set against an "oriental" background
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G. Die Zauberflöte is the first great German opera, although outwardly a Singspiel
1. It sometimes uses spoken dialogue instead of recitative 2. Some characters and scenes are appropriate to popular comedy 3. The opera incorporates the teachings and ceremonies of
Freemasonry (Mozart had also composed music for Masonic ceremonies)
4. It combines vocal opulence of Italian opera seria, the folk humor of the Singspiel, the vocal ensembles of the buffa, and a new kind of accompanied recitative appropriate to German words
VII. Church Music A. Mozart's Masses are in the symphonic-operatic idiom, intermingled with
fugues and scored for chorus alternating with soloists, accompanied by orchestra
B. Requiem, K. 626, was Mozart's last work 1. Commissioned by a wealthy nobleman, Count Walsegg 2. Left unfinished at Mozart's death and completed by his pupil and
collaborator Franz Xaver Süssmayr Ludwig Van Beethoven
I. Biographical Background A. Born in 1770 B. His earliest music teacher was his father, a singer in the chapel at Bonn C. His father wanted to turn Ludwig into another Mozart D. When he was seventeen he played for Mozart, who prophesied a great
future for him E. He studied with Haydn from 1792 to 1794 and briefly with other
composers and teachers F. He began to lose his hearing around 1796, and by 1820 could hardly hear
at all G. In 1802 he wrote a letter which he intended for his brothers to read after
his death 1. Known as the Heiligenstadt Testament 2. It describes how he isolated himself from society because of his
deafness 3. Although he felt despair over his deafness he resisted thoughts of
suicide by resolving to express all that he could in his compositions
II. Output A. Orchestral music
1. Nine symphonies 2. Eleven overtures and some incidental music to plays 3. Five piano concertos and a concerto for violin
B. Chamber music 1. Sixteen string quartets 2. Nine piano trios 3. Ten sonatas for violin and piano
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4. Five sonatas for cello and piano C. Piano music
1. Thirty-two sonatas 2. Many sets of variations
D. Vocal music 1. One oratorio 2. One opera 3. Two Masses 4. Arias and songs
III. First Creative Period (to 1802) A. Biographical background
1. In the 1790s Beethoven lived in Vienna 2. Several members of the Austrian, Bohemian, and Hungarian
aristocracy encouraged and supported him a. Prince Karl von Lichnowsky let him live in one of his
houses b. Lichnowsky sponsored concerts in his Vienna palace c. Lichnowsky bought rights to first performances of
Beethoven's works for performance by his private orchestra d. Lichnowsky, Prince Kinsky, and Archduke Rudolf set up
an annuity for Beethoven to help him stay in Austria e. Beethoven dedicated some of his works to these men and
other patrons, for example, the Archduke Trio and the Waldstein Sonata
3. Beethoven supplemented his income by teaching piano and playing piano in concerts, some of which he organized himself
B. Piano sonatas 1. The first three piano sonatas (without opus numbers)
a. Are reminiscent of works by Haydn, to whom they are dedicated
b. Have four movements instead of the usual three c. The second and third sonatas have scherzos instead of
minuets d. His own style is evident in the use of minor mode and bold
modulations 2. NAWM 101, Sonate pathétique, Op. 13, Mvt. 3
a. Rondo form b. Using the normally cheerful rondo form in a minor key is
unusual c. The episodes are in major keys (E flat, A flat, C) d. The third episode is the same as the first, but transposed to
the parallel major of the movement, making this section seem like a recapitulation in sonata form
3. Muzio Clementi (NAWM 102) was one of Beethoven's influences a. Thematic material for the entire movement appears in the
slow introduction
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b. Fugue and fugato sections use the same subject, although with changes
c. A section in C minor follows directly after a section in C major
4. Jan Ladislav Dussek, of Bohemia, was another influence; HWM, ex. 15.2
a. Dussek dedicated this sonata to Clementi b. Dussek borrowed pianistic textures from Clementi c. Broken-chord figures that reinforce some notes to produce
a melodic line d. Broken octaves in the left hand with melodies and chords in
the right e. Figurations in the right hand against chords in the left f. Figurations in the right hand against an Alberti bass
C. Chamber music 1. His chamber music style is indebted to Haydn 2. Opus 18 string quartets (1798–1800) combine Haydn's use of
motive and counterpoint with Beethoven's unconventional modulations and subtleties of formal structure, for example, op. 19, no. 2 (HWM, ex. 15.3)
3. Other chamber works include three piano trios, three violin sonatas, two cello sonatas and the very popular Septet in E flat for strings and winds
D. Symphonies 1. First Symphony (1800)
a. Regular in form b. Unusual prominence given to the woodwinds c. The third movement is a scherzo but is labeled a minuet d. Beethoven paid careful attention to dynamic shading e. The introductory Adagio delays the tonic, which arrives on
the first chord of the Allegro 2. Second Symphony (1802)
a. Introduced by a long Adagio b. Ended with a long coda that develops the principal material c. Large dimensions throughout the symphony, but with
perfect formal balance d. The last movement is in sonata form with extra recurrences
of the first theme, suggesting a rondo IV. Second Creative Period (1802–1815)
A. By the beginning of his second creative period, Beethoven was recognized as the leading composer of his time
1. His wealthy patrons were so supportive that Beethoven could treat them discourteously without losing their goodwill
2. He was able to drive hard bargains with his publishers 3. He took commissions but could miss a deadline in the interest of
polishing his work
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B. Symphony No. 3, the Eroica Symphony, NAWM 103 1. Named Eroica because it celebrates a hero and expresses heroic
greatness a. Originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, who promised
to lead humanity into a new age of liberty, equality, and fraternity
b. In 1804 Napoleon had himself proclaimed emperor, and Beethoven changed the title to Sinfonia Eroica (Heroic Symphony . . . composed to celebrate the memory of a great man). Whether Beethoven was angry at Napoleon is unclear
c. In 1809 Napoleon was in the audience for a performance conducted by Beethoven, and Beethoven considered dedicating his Mass in C (Op. 86) to him
2. Begun in 1802, published in 1806 a. His compositional process is well documented in several
surviving drafts and sketches of the first movement
b. Excerpts from his drafts (at the end of NAWM 103 and HWM, ex. 15.4) show that what appears to be new material is actually drawn from the first theme
c. He took his first ideas from his ballet music for The Creatures of Prometheus
d. The first theme becomes a dramatis persona, a character whose obstacles and victories give the symphony a dramatic quality
3. It was immediately recognized as an important work, although audiences had trouble grasping it because of its unprecedented length and complexity, and its ambiguous form
a. The development and coda are disproportionately long b. A seemingly new theme appears in the development c. Disconcerting and abrupt changes of key disturb the sense
of form d. Just before the recapitulation the French horn seems to state
the main theme prematurely 4. The second movement (the Funeral March) links the work with
France and Napoleon a. Instead of a lyrical slow movement this movement is a
march b. The main sections are in C minor c. A contrasting "trio" is in C major and includes fanfares and
celebratory lyricism C. Fidelio, his only opera
1. Began after completion of the Third Symphony 2. The libretto was borrowed from a French Revolutionary-era rescue
opera Léonore ou L'amour conjugal (Leonore, or Conjugal Love)
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3. Leonore dresses as a man and rescues her husband from prison 4. Beethoven revised it after the French army invaded Vienna (1805),
but it would not be successful until its third version in 1814 5. Beethoven wrote four different overtures for the opera
D. Rasumovsky Quartets, Op. 59 1. Beethoven dedicated the three string quartets Op. 49 to Count
Rasumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna and a violinist 2. Two movements use Russian melodies 3. Beethoven used unusual and experimental techniques, which he
expected to be understood in "a later age." E. Fourth to Eighth Symphonies (composed between 1806 and 1808)
1. The Fourth and Fifth Symphonies were composed at the same time but express opposite emotions. The Fourth is jovial and the Fifth seems to express struggle and triumph
2. The Fifth Symphony uses a motive that recurs in one guise or another in all movements
3. The Sixth Symphony (Pastoral) has five movements, each with a descriptive title suggesting a scene from life in the country
a. The extra movement, Storm, precedes the final movement, which portrays Thankful feelings after the storm
b. Beethoven claimed these titles were "expressions of feelings rather than depiction"
4. The Seventh and Eighth Symphonies were completed in 1812 a. The Seventh is in A major; its third movement is in F major
and its trio in D major b. The Eighth is more condensed, except for a long coda in
the first movement F. Piano sonatas
1. 1800–01, Beethoven composed three piano sonatas, including the Moonlight Sonata
2. Others from the period include Op. 31, No. 2, which has a recitative-like passage (HWM, ex. 15.8)
3. In 1804 he composed Op. 53, the Waldstein Sonata (named for a patron) which portrays a storm with thunder in the left hand and lightning in the right
4. After the Waldstein he composed the Appassionata and three others during his middle period
G. Piano concertos 1. Beethoven composed concertos to play at his own concerts 2. The first three piano concertos were composed in his early years in
Vienna 3. The Fourth and Fifth were composed in his middle period 4. The Fifth concerto, known as the Emperor, was premiered by Carl
Czerny, a former student
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5. Beethoven's middle period concertos have three movements in the Classical tradition but with some unexpected features, such as cadenzas before the orchestral expositions
V. Third Creative Period (1815–1827) A. Biographical background
1. His works continued to be performed regularly in Vienna and elsewhere
2. He retreated into himself because of his deafness and became moody and suspicious
3. By 1816 he could hear music only in his mind and his compositions became more meditative and abstract
B. Characteristics of Beethoven's late style 1. Themes and motives are used to their utmost potential, and
Beethoven found the variation form appealing, for example, Thirty-three Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli (1823) and movements in piano sonatas, String Quartet Op. 132, and the Ninth Symphony
2. Blurring of the divisions between phrases 3. Improvisational style, perhaps giving an indication of Beethoven's
famous ability to improvise at the piano 4. Fugal and canonic imitation, especially in development sections.
Also, the two double fugues in the finale of the Ninth Symphony and the Grosse Fuge for string quartet
5. Number of movements changes—some works have only two movements and others have several (e.g., NAWM 104, Quartet Op. 131)
6. NAWM 104, Quartet Op. 131 a. Seven movements, with some thematic unity between the
first and last b. The first movement is a fugue, marked "molto espressivo" c. The second movement is a folk-like Allegro in D, with C
sharp used as a substitute dominant d. Both movements have frequent notated dynamic changes to
heighten their emotional impact C. Missa Solemnis (Mass in D)
1. Written to celebrate Archduke Rudolph's elevation to archbishop of Olmütz
2. Choral sections are indebted to Handel, whom Beethoven admired 3. Freely combines and alternates choruses and ensembles in each
movement 4. Sometimes he takes liberties with the liturgical text in order to alter
the form D. Ninth Symphony E. Beethoven was so deaf he could not hear the audience's enthusiastic
applause at the end of the premiere in 1824
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F. The most striking innovation is the use of chorus and solo voices in the finale
a. Schiller's Ode to Joy text had inspired Beethoven for years b. Beethoven selected stanzas that reflected his ideals of universal
fellowship through a joy that came from an eternal heavenly Father c. Beethoven sets up the introduction of voices by having recitative
passages and responses in the orchestra at the beginning of the movement
VI. Beethoven's Influence A. His late works were too personal and too complex to be imitated B. Later composers were more influenced by the revolutionary and impulsive
elements in his middle-period works C. Many consider him a Romantic composer
Romanticism and Nineteenth-Century Orchestral Music
I. Romanticism A. The term Romantic for nineteenth-century music is imprecise because
most music composed between 1770 and 1900 lies on a continuum of styles
B. At the end of the eighteenth century, Friedrich von Hardenberg coined the term from the word for medieval heroic stories, romance
C. Friedrich Schlege, a literary critic, applied the term to poetry that expressed the richness of nature and insatiable longing
D. In both poetry and music, transgressing rules and limits is a feature of Romanticism, partly in reaction to the formal constraints of Classicism
E. Instrumental music as the ideal Romantic art 1. In contrast, the text of a vocal work limited its expressive range 2. Arthur Schopenhauer, the philosopher, believed that instrumental
music expressed the innermost reality of human feelings 3. Composers did not completely dismiss the power of words, and
they attempted to make music and poetry closer in their songs 4. Many composers also wrote essays on aesthetics, and Wagner
wrote librettos and philosophical treatises F. Program music
1. The result of composers' interest in literature and in instrumental music's expressive power
2. Defined as instrumental music associated with poetic, descriptive, or narrative subject matter
3. The ideal was instrumental music that transcended its "program" 4. Sometimes the program was an afterthought
II. Orchestral Music A. Public concerts become more popular, with the middle class playing a
more prominent role B. Audiences, critics, and composers placed symphonic music above other
genres of the time III. Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
A. Biographical background
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1. Schubert came from a humble Viennese family 2. His home was filled with music-making but Schubert was expected
to follow his father's profession as schoolmaster 3. He taught school for three years (1814–1817) then devoted himself
to composition 4. He died at the age of thirty-one 5. His output includes nine symphonies, twenty-two piano sonatas,
about thirty-five chamber compositions, two hundred choral works, and more than six hundred lieder
B. Style 1. His chief influences were Haydn, Mozart, Cherubini, and early
Beethoven 2. Some of his orchestral works also show the influence of opera
composer Gioachino Rossini 3. His symphonies follow Classic forms but his style is lyrical, with
adventurous harmony and enchanting colors C. The Unfinished Symphony (abandoned in 1822)
1. The introduction is influenced by Beethoven's Third 2. The first theme is a songful melody 3. The second theme is a graceful Ländler (Austrian country dance) 4. His development section treats the introduction rather than the
main themes of the movement 5. He uses the instruments in unusual ways 6. This work was not performed until 1865
IV. Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) A. Berlioz's first three symphonies made him the leader of the Romantic
movement's radical wing, and his inventive use of the orchestra made him the father of modern orchestration and conducting
B. The Symphonie fantastique (NAWM 105) was composed in 1830 using an idée fixe, a main theme that occurs in each movement to represent a woman whose love he hopes to win
1. Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony inspired Berlioz to compose a symphony around a set of feelings of passions
2. The idée fixe is a long melody that can be extended and ornamented, but not fragmented
3. An autobiographical program introduces the movements by describing the situation that evokes the mood of each
4. The first movement a. In a modified sonata form with a slow introduction b. The idée fixe is first introduced after a pause in the
"development" section 5. The second movement is a waltz 6. The third movement is an Adagio pastorale (NAWM 105) 7. The fourth movement is a macabre tour de force 8. The finale, an introduction and Allegro
a. Uses a transformation of the idée fixe with other themes
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b. One of the other themes is the Dies irae chant sequence C. His second symphony, Harold en Italie, 1834, sets four scenes based on
Lord Byron's poem, Childe Harold 1. A solo viola plays the recurring idée fixe, which combines with
other themes throughout the work 2. Nicolò Paganini had commissioned the work but refused to
perform it because it would not display his technique 3. The finale sums up the themes of the preceding movements
D. Roméo et Juliette (1839 and 1847) is a dramatic symphony in seven movements using solo vocalists and chorus
1. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was a model in some respects 2. The Queen Mab scherzo characterizes a world of elves and fairies
in a gossamer texture similar to Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream scherzo
3. The most passionate and tragic parts of the play are portrayed by orchestra alone
V. Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) A. Mendelssohn's influences
1. He studied the Classic forms with Carl Friedrich Zelter 2. He also studied the music of Bach and Handel 3. Beethoven had less influence on Mendelssohn than on others of his
generation B. Mendelssohn's two most important symphonies carry geographical
subtitles C. The Italian Symphony (No. 4, 1833) evokes impressions of Italy, with
melodies inspired by Italian opera D. The Scottish Symphony (No. 3, 1842) evokes Scotland
1. The four movements are played without pause 2. The Scottish flavor comes from the "Scotch snap," pentatonic
scales inspired by the Hebrides Islands, and Scottish bagpipe idioms
E. His Violin Concerto (1844) is one of the greatest of all violin concertos and one of Mendelssohn's masterpieces
1. The first two movements are linked 2. The soloist rather than the orchestra states the theme at the
beginning F. Overtures
1. Some portray landscapes, including Die Hebriden (The Hebrides) 2. Overture for Midsummer Night's Dream set the standard for
orchestral overtures G. Incidental music for plays includes Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo and
Midsummer Night's Dream VI. Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
A. Schumann's personality was the epitome of Romanticism, making the Classical symphony less appealing to him
B. He composed mostly piano music and lieder until 1840
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C. Symphony No. 1, the Spring Symphony has descriptive titles for each movement
D. Symphony No. 4, composed in 1841 and revised in 1851 1. Follows Schubert and Mendelssohn's examples 2. Its four movements are played without a break
VII. Franz Liszt (1811–1886) A. The foremost composer of program music after Berlioz B. Composed twelve "symphonic poems"
1. Continuous form with sections in contrasting character and tempo 2. Imaginative structure similar to a poem 3. Content is suggested by a subject but the subject does not govern
the details. (The program runs parallel to the work but the symphonic poem does not tell the story.)
4. Hunnenschlacht (The Battle of the Huns) is titled after a mural painting, Hamlet is named for Shakespeare's hero, and Prometheus is tied to a myth and poem
5. Orpheus and Hamlet originated as introductions to theatrical performances; others grew out of concert overtures
6. Les Préludes (1854) a. Based on a poem of the same title by Alfonse-Marie de
Lamartine b. The sections of the work follow those of the poem c. The parallel poem in the music takes a three-note motive
through several different moods C. Liszt's symphonies are also programmatic
1. Faust Symphony (1854) was dedicated to Berlioz, and takes a theme through all three movements, changing it for each mood
2. The Dante Symphony (1856) is shorter, with only two movements D. Liszt influenced others to compose symphonic poems, and his bold
approach to harmony (e.g., his use of the augmented triad) and motivic transformation influenced later composers
VIII. Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) A. Brahms was reluctant to compose a symphony because of his reverence
for Beethoven B. His First Symphony was influenced by Schumann's Fourth Symphony
1. Brahms worked on it for twenty years 2. The sequence of movements is conventional, with the addition of
slow introductions for the first and last movements 3. The key scheme uses third relationships (C minor, E major, A-flat
major, C minor and major) 4. All the movements recall introductory material
C. Second Symphony 1. Continuously builds on germinal ideas 2. The first movement has a peaceful and pastoral character
D. Third Symphony
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1. The opening measures are typical of Brahms's characteristic wide melodic spans and cross-relation between the minor and major of the tonic
2. The last movement continues the clash between major and minor E. Fourth Symphony
1. The beginning uses all the notes of the harmonic minor scale before repeating any
2. Rhythmic conflict comes from the juxtaposition of a melody that emphasizes the first beat and an accompaniment emphasizing the third
3. The final movement is a passacaglia/chaconne, reflecting Brahms' interest in Baroque music
F. Brahms also composed concert overtures and two serenades for orchestra, as well as concertos for piano, violin, and a double concerto for violin and violoncello
IX. Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) A. Bruckner lived in Vienna, in the shadow of Brahms B. Only two of his ten symphonies were played outside Vienna during his
lifetime C. Style of his symphonies
1. Monumental in scale and character 2. In the traditional four movements 3. Sublimely solemn slow movements 4. Most of his final movements recycle subjects from earlier
movements 5. Weighty, mystical, religious character 6. Long codas and the continuous development of musical ideas,
reminiscent of Beethoven D. Only the Fourth (Romantic) Symphony (1874–80) has descriptive tags E. The Fourth and Seventh are the most popular of his symphonies
X. Piotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1848–1893) A. Tchaikovsky graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia,
and he briefly taught harmony at the Moscow Conservatory B. His best-known symphonies are Nos. 4, 5, and 6 (the Pathétique)
1. The Fourth Symphony had a program relating to inexorable fate, portrayed by a horn motive that appears suddenly
2. The Fifth Symphony develops the cyclical method, with a motto that recurs in all four movements
3. The Sixth Symphony quotes the Russian Orthodox Requiem, justifying its Pathétique title
C. He also composed symphonic poems, ballet music, orchestral overtures, and concertos for violin and piano
XI. Antonin Dvo§ák (1841–1904) A. He composed nine symphonies
1. No. 7 is considered the best 2. No. 8 uses folklike melodies and rhythms
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3. No. 9 is the famous New World, composed in 1893 in the United States
a. Used some themes based on Native American melodies b. Other themes were based on Negro spirituals sung to him
by Harry T. Burleigh B. His only other important orchestral work is his cello concerto
Piano Music
I. The Piano A. The piano of ca. 1800 had seven octaves, felt-covered hammers, and metal
plates and braces for strength B. The sound was full and firm and capable of expression and virtuosic
display C. It was the most popular instrument for salon or living room D. Both amateurs and professionals played in domestic settings, creating a
demand for repertoire E. There were two competing schools of piano playing and composing
1. Johann Nepomuk Hummel and his followers emphasized clear textures and fluent technique
2. Beethoven and his followers emphasized full tone, wide dynamic range, orchestral effects, and virtuosic display
3. Muzio Clementi's Gradus ad Parnassum (1817–26) is a set of one hundred études to develop both styles (e.g., NAWM 102)
4. Later in the century other styles emerged 5. By the end of the century several showy pianists concertized on
tours through America and Europe 6. Composers developed voicing and pedaling techniques to give a
vocal, lyrical, quality to the piano with accompaniments divided between the hands; Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte epitomizes this trend
II. The Early Romantic Composers A. The Bohemian school of piano composition includes Dussek, Jan Václav
Tomásek, and Jan Hugo Vorísek B. Carl Maria von Weber's piano works include sonatas, concertos and the
popular Aufforderung zum Tanz (Invitation to the Dance) III. Schubert
A. His Moments musicaux (D. 789) and eight Impromptus (D. 899, 935) became models for later composers of intimate piano pieces
B. Large-scale works included eleven sonatas and a fantasia on a theme from his song Der Wanderer (Wanderer Fantasie, D. 760), which is a technically demanding work in four movements
C. He composed duets for piano four-hands D. Sonatas
1. Harmonic innovations include substitute dominants and expositions with three key areas instead of the usual two
2. Melodies are expansive and recur in different environments that give them new meanings
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3. His last three sonatas (all composed in 1828) show Beethoven's influence in some movements but retain Schubert's characteristic lyricism
IV. Felix Mendelssohn A. He was a virtuoso pianist but his style is conservative B. He composed preludes and fugues after discovering the music of J. S.
Bach (which he helped revive through a performance of the St. Matthew Passion)
C. Some of his scherzo-like movements have an elfin lightness, including his Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14
D. Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words) NAWM 106a and 106b 1. Forty-eight pieces published in eight books 2. Exploit the pianoforte's responsiveness to different types of touch 3. Melodic notes embedded in the accompanimental pattern require
performers to bring notes out with different touch E. Mendelssohn also composed works for organ, with fugal writing and
chorale melodies V. Robert Schumann
A. Biographical background 1. Injured his right hand and could no longer perform as a concert
pianist 2. Instead, composed music and wrote essays and for the Neue
Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal of Music) 3. His essays and reviews furthered the careers of other composers 4. To 1840 all his compositions were for piano 5. He composed in both long and short forms
a. His long form works include a concerto and a set of variations titled Symphonische Etüden (Symphonic études)
b. Character pieces comprise most of the rest of his works B. Character pieces (e.g., NAWM 107)
1. Collected into colorfully titled cycles, such as Papillons (Butterflies), Carnaval, Phantasiestücke (Fantasy Pieces)
a. NAWM 107a, Grillen (Whims) uses a rondo-like pattern combined with a triple-time dance flavor to contrast four-measure blocks of music (Viertaktigkeit, "four-barredness")
b. NAWM 107b, In der Nacht (In the Night) is a perpetual motion (moto perpetuo) marked "Mit Leidenschaft" (With Passion)
2. Although the titles of the pieces and the cycles suggest poetic descriptions, Schumann claimed to have composed the works before giving them titles
3. His own volatile personality is reflected in the many moods of his pieces
4. Florestan, Eusebius, and Raro were character names for different aspects of Schumann's personality
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a. A piano work titled Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the David League), portrays Florestan as an impulsive revolutionary, Eusebius as a youthful dreamer, and Raro as a wise, mature master
b. These characters are also portrayed in miniatures in Carnaval
C. Other works show his admiration for the music of Bach, and he encouraged his students to study Bach's fugues
VI. Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849) A. Biographical background
1. Chopin wrote almost exclusively for piano 2. He was born in Poland in 1810, and lived in Paris after 1831 3. He never stopped loving Poland, which was under Russian
domination at the time. He and other expatriates in Paris hoped for an independent Poland
B. Style 1. Introspective, with an improvisatory character within clearly
defined forms 2. Imaginative use of pedals and tempo rubato (holding back slightly
in the right hand while the left hand continues the accompaniment in time)
3. Although his works are not heroic in style, performers must have a flawless technique and delicate touch to play them well
C. Polish pieces 1. Mazurkas suffused with traits of Polish dance music, including the
"Lydian" raised fourth characteristic of Polish folk music 2. Polonaises assert a national identity (e.g., Op. 53 and Op. 44)
D. Nocturnes 1. Irish pianist and composer John Field (1782–1837) developed the
form that Chopin used in his early nocturnes 2. The piano nocturne drew inspiration from the vocal nocturne
a. For two or more voices with piano or harp b. Popular ca. 1800–1810
3. Field's nocturne No. 8 (NAWM 108) a. Inspired by ornamentation and cadenzas practiced by opera
singers b. Pianists used vocal ornamentation techniques in their
improvised sets of variations on arias 4. Chopin's Nocturne in E flat (NAWM 109)
a. Rich harmonic imagination supports the lyrical lines b. Ornamented melody with cadenza-like passages
E. Preludes 1. Inspired by his study of Bach, especially the Well-Tempered
Keyboard 2. Chopin's preludes use all the major and minor keys through the
circle of fifths
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3. His rich chromatic harmonies influenced later composers F. Other works
1. Chopin was the first to use the word Ballade to title an instrumental work
a. His ballades were influenced by poems by the great Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz
b. Frequent turns of harmony and form characterize the ballade
2. Scherzos are serious, vigorous, and passionate rather than joking a. Op. 31 begins in B-flat minor and ends in D-flat major b. It uses the scherzo—trio—scherzo form c. A coda develops the scherzo material
3. Great Fantasia in F minor (Op. 49) and the Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61
4. Études in two sets of twelve, and three without opus number a. Intended to develop one aspect of technique in each étude b. Combine significant artistic content with the étude form,
creating concert pieces that would inspire later composers to do the same
5. Piano sonatas Opp. 35 and 58 became standard repertoire for later pianists
a. Op. 35 includes the famous funeral march, and its presto finale was shocking to listeners of his time
b. Op. 58, in B minor is more conventional, with a grand finale, and became popular more quickly than Op. 35
6. Chopin's concertos are typical of nineteenth-century concertos by performer-composers: the orchestra plays a purely accompanimental role
VII. Franz Liszt A. Biographical background
1. Born in Hungary 2. Studied piano with Carl Czerny in Vienna, and by age eleven was
a concert virtuoso 3. Lived in Paris, Weimar, and Rome
B. Style 1. His style is eclectic, formed by his cosmopolitan career, but he
uses Hungarian elements in many works, for example, his nineteen Hungarian Rhapsodies and his Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Melodies (1853)
2. He was influenced by the virtuosity of the violinist Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840) to extend the technical possibilities of the piano, and he transcribed some of Paganini's violin works for the piano
C. Works 1. Piano arrangements of orchestral and operatic works by Schubert,
Berlioz, Beethoven, Bach, and Wagner
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2. Études work out technical problems and have descriptive titles a. Example: NAWM 110, the concert étude Un sospiro forces
the performer to use the pedal to help bring a melody out from an accompaniment
b. Études d'exécution transcendante (Transcendental Études) i. Originally simple etudes in 1826
ii. Revised and made more difficult in 1839 iii. Simplified and given individual titles in 1852
3. Works for piano and orchestra include two concertos, the Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Melodies and the Totentanz (Dance of Death, 1849), which uses Dies irae
D. Thematic transformation, in which a theme is transformed over the course of several appearances, is a major feature of some works (HWM, ex. 17.9)
E. Program music for piano solo includes Années de pélerinage (Years of Pilgrimage), published in three books
F. Used augmented triads extensively in his late works, including the B-minor sonata and Nuages gris (Gray Clouds, 1881), for piano
VIII. Brahms A. The great conservative of the Romantic era
1. His models were Beethoven and Schumann rather than Chopin and Liszt
2. He preferred Classic forms, such as sonata and variations, although he did compose some shorter pieces such as ballades and capriccios
B. His style includes full piano sonority, broken-chord figurations, doubling of the melodic line, and cross-rhythms
IX. Other Composers of Piano Music A. Composers involved with nationalistic movements in Russia (Musorgsky
and Balakirev) and France (Franck) B. Women as pianist-composers
1. Fanny Hensel (1805–1847) a. Sister of Felix Mendelssohn b. She hosted Sunday musicales, where she would perform
her works 2. Clara Wieck SchumannError! Bookmark not defined. (1819–
1896) a. Concert pianist from the age of nine b. After marrying Robert Schumann she had to curb her
concertizing, but did continue to perform, compose, and teach to some extent
c. She composed piano works, a piano trio, and collections of lieder (NAWM 114)
Chamber Music
I. Background A. Many Romantic composers did not like the intimacy of chamber music
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B. The best chamber works were composed by composers who felt more affinity with Classical forms
II. Schubert A. String quartets
1. His earliest quartets were modeled on those of Mozart and Haydn 2. By 1816 his own style was evident
B. Some of his chamber works borrow from his own works in other genres 1. The Trout Quintet (1819) for piano, violin, viola, cello, and bass
uses his own song, Die Forelli (The Trout) as the basis for variations in the slow movement
2. The A-minor Quartet (1824) uses music from his own incidental music to Rosamunde
3. The D-minor quartet, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden") uses his lied Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden) as the basis for variations
C. String Quintet in C major, D. 956 1. Composed in the last year of his life 2. For string quartet plus an added violoncello 3. Long melodic lines with profound lyricism and mastery of
counterpoint III. Mendelssohn
A. His Octet for Strings (1825) and his Piano Trio in D minor are his two best works for chamber groups
B. His other chamber works have attractive themes but lack structural integrity
IV. Brahms A. Considered the true successor of Beethoven in chamber music B. Twenty-four works in many combinations. Many are considered
masterpieces C. Two string sextets with a wide variety of moods D. Piano quintet Op. 34 (1864)
1. He reworked a previous work for this medium on the advice of his good friend Clara Schumann
2. He treats the opening idea in "developing variations." 3. The scherzo is in the tradition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
E. His sonatas for piano with another instrument (violin, cello, and clarinet) are noteworthy
V. César Franck A. Was the founder of modern French chamber music B. His compositions employ the cyclical method, in which themes recur in
two or more movements C. His chief works are the Violin Sonata in A major, a Piano Quintet in F
minor, and a String Quartet in D major The Lied
I. The Ballad A. A poetic form cultivated in Germany in imitation of English ballads
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B. Long poems alternating narrative and dialogue C. Stories included romantic adventures and supernatural incidents D. Folk ballads inspired poems such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of
the Ancient Mariner E. German composers seized on these poems, which afforded them more
opportunities for musical expression than the lieder of the eighteenth century
F. The piano part rose in status to equal partner in illustrating and intensifying the meaning of the poetry
G. The most prolific German ballad composer was Carl Loewe (1796–1869) II. Schubert
A. Schubert composed lieder in a variety of forms and styles B. Some lieder are in the folklike idiom cultivated by Loewe C. Some are sweet, others declamatory and dramatic D. Harmonic devices, such as hovering between the major and minor forms
of the triad, chromatic coloring, and sudden modulations often help portray the drama
E. Schubert's choice of form always suits the poetical and musical requirements of the text. Often they are strophic, but sometimes with slight variations
F. Accompanimental figures often illustrate the text and contribute to the mood of the song
1. NAWM 111, Gretchen am Spinnrade, uses a constant sixteenth-note figure in the accompaniment to portray the spinning wheel and Gretchen's moods
2. In Der Doppelgänger (The Double) somber chords with a sinister motive portray the ghostly horror of the scene
G. Texts come from many poets, especially Goethe, Wilhelm Müller, and Heinrich Heine
H. Song cycles were sometimes composed as sets, and sometimes published as such posthumously
1. Schwanengesang (Swan Song, 1828) cycle was published as a cycle after his death
2. Winterreise consists of twenty-four poems by Müller a. The lover reminisces about a summer romance in the
winter b. NAWM 112, Der Lindenbaum (The Linden Tree) is about
the tree where the narrator used to dream of his love c. The music is in modified strophic form
III. Robert Schumann A. Was the first important successor to Schubert in lied composition B. His lieder were restless and intense in both melody and accompaniment C. In 1840 he composed more than one hundred lieder, including two cycles D. Dichterliebe (A Poet's Love) consists of sixteen songs from Heinrich
Heine's Lyrisches Intermezzo 1. The theme of unrequited love runs through the poems
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2. The first song of the cycle, Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (In the marvelous month of May), NAWM 113a, expresses anxiety about love that may not be returned. Tonal ambiguity and tension between voice and piano reflect the mood
3. NAWM 113b, Ich grolle nicht (I bear no grudge) uses a declamatory approach to portray defiance
IV. Clara SchumannError! Bookmark not defined. A. Also composed lieder B. Example: NAWM 114
V. Brahms A. Composed 260 songs B. Some are in folksong style, such as the famous Wiegenlied (Lullaby), and
folksong arrangements dedicated to the children of Robert and Clara Schumann
C. He followed Schubert's example by composing in strophic form D. Most of Brahms's songs are serious in tone, with restraint and severity,
such as Sapphische Ode (HWM, ex. 17.15) E. Many of his lieder reflect on death, as Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer
(Ever lighter is my slumber) F. His piano parts use varied textures and figures, but are not pictorial
Choral Music
I. Background A. Choruses played a subsidiary role in operas, choral movements in
symphonies, and in some choral-orchestral works of Berlioz and Liszt B. Nineteenth-century composers favored other media for expressing
sentiments, but composers who had studied the works of Bach and Handel (e.g., Mendelssohn and Brahms) composed effectively for chorus
II. Part-Songs and Cantatas A. Part-songs: Short choral pieces, usually on secular texts, in homophonic
style with the melody in the upper voice, sung a cappella or with keyboard accompaniment
1. Nationalistic sentiments inspired choral compositions based on folk song
2. Part-songs for men's, women's, or mixed voices were composed for specific occasions and were quickly forgotten
B. Cantatas were more enduring than part-songs, especially those of Brahms, for example, the Alto Rhapsody (1870)
III. Church Music A. The Cecilian movement, named for the patron saint of music, was a
reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church B. The Cecilian movement inspired Schubert's Masses and music by
Cherubini C. Gounod's Mass, the St. Cecilia, was condemned on liturgical grounds
because the composer inserted nonliturgical text D. There were also some fine choral compositions in Russia (Orthodox) and
England (Anglican)
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IV. Music on Liturgical Texts A. Berlioz
1. Composed the Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem, 1837) and Te Deum (1855) for special occasions
2. They were inspired by massive music festivals of the French Revolution
3. Both are huge in length and performing forces 4. The Requiem uses 140 players in unusual combinations
B. Liszt 1. Composed large-scale sacred works for special occasions 2. He also composed some smaller works that used experimental
harmonies and extremes of mood C. Italian opera composers wrote some church music
1. Giochino Rossini's Stabat Mater was so operatic in style that the pope forbade its performance
2. Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem (1874) was composed in memory of author Alessandro Manzoni. He adapted the sacred text and added some powerful choruses
D. Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) united the spiritual and technical resources of the nineteenth-century symphony with a reverent approach to liturgical texts
1. Masses a. His first two (in D minor and F minor) were revised
numerous times before publication b. His short Mass in E minor (1866, published 1890) is for
chorus with wind instruments 2. He also composed motets, for example, Virga Jesse NAWM 115,
which is modal 3. His last religious music was a Te Deum and a setting of Psalm 150
E. Oratorios 1. Popular in Protestant England and Germany 2. Choral movements in the tradition of Handel 3. Topics included the life of Christ and Christian concepts 4. Mendelssohn composed oratorios on St. Paul (1836) and Elijah
(1846) 5. Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem, 1868) uses
meditative German texts rather than the Latin Requiem texts a. NAWM 116, "How lovely are your dwelling places,"
expresses a desire to be united with God b. Many of the other movements use brass and tympani
Italy
I. Italian Opera in the Eighteenth Century A. Italian composers had already begun to put some of Gluck's principles into
practice B. Nicolò Jommelli (1714–1774) and Tommaso Traetta (1727–1779)
attempted to reform Italian opera
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1. Their reforms were not popular 2. They provided models for more continuous dramatic flow and a
more important role for the orchestra in opera seria 3. By the end of the eighteenth century Johann Simon Mayr's operas
made Jommeli and Traetta's reforms more acceptable to audiences II. Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
A. By 1825, Rossini was the most important and most famous living composer in Europe (more famous than Beethoven)
B. He composed thirty-nine operas, both comic and serious, but only his comic operas are popular today
C. He distributed the action throughout each act by constructing scenes (scena) rather than confine the action to recitatives. Typical scenes consisted of these sections:
1. Instrumental introduction 2. Recitative for soloist or in dialogue, accompanied by orchestra 3. Cantabile, a song in declamatory yet melodious style, primo tempo
(first movement), for one or two singers 4. Interlude (sometimes), tempo di mezzo (middle movement), a
transition for ensemble or chorus 5. Cabaletta, the final movement in a lively style for one or two
soloists. The cabaletta repeats, sometimes with embellishments. The cantabile and cabaletta together constitute the aria
6. Finale, which brings together many characters D. Melodic flow is inexhaustible with snappy rhythms and clear but
sometimes unconventional phraseology E. Orchestration is spare and supportive of the singers, but Rossini respected
the instrumental timbres F. NAWM 117, "Una voce poco fa" from Il barbiere di Siviglia
1. Monologue with the illusion of action created by changes in tempo and style
2. Rosina resolves to win her suitor in the Andante cantabile section a. The Andante section is labeled cavatina, an entrance aria
that evolved from short aria-like passages set to the last lines of a recitative
b. Rossini sets the first ten lines like an obbligato recitative with an elaborate orchestral introduction
3. Rosina boasts in the Moderato cabaletta (tempo di mezzo) section that she can sting like a viper when crossed
a. Contrasting section of the monologue b. Bravura aria with restrained coloratura
G. Rossini frequently uses ensemble scenes, with two to four singers, which build through the scene
H. Guillaume Tell was the most admired and most frequently performed of his serious operas, but today only the overture is performed
1. Over five hundred performances at the Paris Opéra during his lifetime
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2. The overture a. The first section evokes the pastoral opening scene b. The second section depicts a storm c. The third section features a Swiss shepherd's call (ranz de
vaches) performed on English horn d. The fourth and last section is the famous galloping allegro
3. Choruses, ensembles, dances and instrumental interludes foreshadow French grand opera
4. The orchestra replaces the keyboard as the accompaniment to recitative
III. Vicenzo Bellini (1801–1835) A. He composed ten serious operas, including La Sonnambula, Norma, and I
Puritani B. His style is refined, with long sweeping melodies and unpredictable forms,
and the illusion of continuous action within the conventions of recitative and aria
C. He believed in expressing intense emotions in operas, for example, NAWM 118, Casta diva, from Norma (1831)
1. The form of the scena is recitative—cantabile—transitional tempo di mezzo—fanfare—cabaletta
2. The orchestra portrays aspects of the text 3. The cantabile, "Casta Diva," incorporates the choir as Norma
prays to the Druid goddess 4. The transitional tempo di mezzo is in embellished recitative style 5. The cabaletta, "Ah! Bello," is an energetic, rhythmically precise
song that brings the scene to a brilliant close IV. Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
A. Prolific composer: seventy operas, several symphonies, about one hundred songs, and other types of music
B. His most enduring works were the serious operas but he also created some excellent comic scenes
C. He averted cadences that would entice applause until a major scene was finished
D. The mad scene from Lucia di Lammermoor consists of loosely joined sections that flow into the next
1. A chorus opens the scene with a commentary on Lucia's appearance after she has killed her husband
2. The orchestra then plays foreboding music 3. Lucia's recitative with flute ends with a florid cadenza 4. Flutes and clarinets quote themes from previous scenes 5. The tempo di mezzo section is a trio 6. The cabaletta begins as usual but the chorus and trio break in
before the repetition 7. Lucia finishes the repetition and ends the scene in a faint
France
I. Paris
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A. The operatic capital of Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century
B. Spontini's La Vestale exemplifies the new type of serious opera C. The heroic character of late Gluck operas combines with heightened
dramatic tension of the rescue plot D. Grand displays of solo, choral, and orchestral music E. Luigi Cherubini and Étienne Nicolas Méhul were the other main
composers for the Paris Opera F. Rossini was conductor of the opera after 1824, and Italian operas were
often performed G. Operas and concerts were sponsored by the government and by wealthy
patrons, making tickets more accessible to the public II. Grand Opera
A. Grand opera appealed to relatively uncultured audiences B. Spectacle was as important as the music
1. Machinery 2. Ballets 3. Choruses 4. Crowd scenes
C. The leading librettist was Eugène Scribe and the leading composer was Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864)
1. Meyerbeer established the genre with Robert le Diable (Robert the Devil, 1831) and Les Huguenots (1836)
2. The closing scenes of Les Huguenots exemplify Meyerbeer's ability to integrate solo, choral, and orchestral forces with effective drama.
D. Rossini's Guillaume Tell is also an example of grand opera E. Parisian grand opera would influence later composers such as Wagner,
Milhaud, Barber, and Corigliano III. Comic Opera in France
A. Opéra Comique 1. Used spoken dialogue instead of recitative 2. Less pretentious than grand opera, using fewer singers and players 3. Composed in a simpler musical idiom 4. Two kinds coexisted: Romantic and comic, although many operas
employed elements of both 5. Daniel François Auber's Fra Diavolo (Brother Devil, 1830) and his
other comic operas mingle humorous and romantic elements B. When the Second French Empire (after 1851) censored serious opera,
opéra bouffe could satirize the Empire freely. 1. Opéra bouffe emphasized smart, witty, and satirical elements of
comic opera 2. Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) founded opéra bouffe. His famous
can-can dance is from his opéra bouffe, Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld)
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3. Offenbach's works influenced composers in other countries, including Gilbert and Sullivan and Johann Strauss the Younger
IV. Berlioz and French Opera A. Berlioz's operas do not fit neatly into operatic categories, and for this
reason his works were overlooked until recently B. La Damnation de Faust (1846) is a "dramatic legend," not intended to be
staged 1. Audiences were familiar with the plot, so Berlioz was free to use
only those scenes most suitable for musical treatment 2. It consists of twenty scenes for three soloists, chorus, and orchestra
C. Benvenuto Cellini (1838) is an opera with broadly conceived episodes rather than a well-developed plot
D. Les Troyens, comprising Part I: La Prise de Troie (The Capture of Troy) and Part II: Les Troyens à Carthage (The Trojans at Carthage)
1. Berlioz wrote the text himself, based on Vergil's Aeneid 2. Scene complexes present the action
a. Only the most important scenes are set b. The narratives are condensed c. Ballets are introduced at every opportunity
3. The passions and incidents are brought to life intensely and on a heroic scale
V. French Lyric Opera A. Evolved from the romantic type of opéra comique B. The scale is larger than that of opéra comique but smaller than grand opera C. The typical subject is romantic drama or fantasy D. Faust (1859) by Charles Gounod (1818–1893) is the most famous
example 1. First staged as an opéra comique, but later reworked with
recitatives 2. Gounod used Part One of Goethe's drama, about Faust and
Gretchen's tragic love affair 3. Melodies are attractive and expressive within the boundaries of
good taste VI. Georges Bizet
A. Carmen premiered in Paris in 1875 1. Contained spoken dialogue, so was classified as an opéra comique
despite its tragic ending 2. Its Spanish setting and melodies give it an exotic flavor, typical of
many Romantic works B. Bizet's harmonic vocabulary includes chromatic harmony and ninth
chords, features he probably learned by performing the music of Chopin and Liszt
VerdiError! Bookmark not defined. I. Background
A. VerdiError! Bookmark not defined. composed twenty-six operas, his first at the age of twenty-six
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B. He had strict training in harmony and counterpoint and was familiar with the works of earlier composers
C. He concentrated on the human drama in his operas and downplayed nature and mythology
D. His librettists adapted works by Romantic authors, such as Schiller, Victor Hugo, and Byron. He also used three plays by Shakespeare
II. Early Works (to 1871) A. Many of his early works adapt the conventions of Rossini, Bellini, and
Donizetti B. His earliest works are concise and intense; after 1853 his operas are longer
and more expansive due to the influence of French grand opera C. The mature works from his early period (beginning with Luisa Miller in
1849) have more refined characterization and less raw emotion D. Example: La traviata ("The Fallen Woman," NAWM 119)
1. The scene structure is similar to Bellini's "Casta Diva" 2. Accompanied recitative opens the scene 3. Verdi's arias are more flexible and expressive than those of
previous generations, and are semideclamatory 4. NAWM 119 (contains the cantabile but not the cavatina)
E. Two of his grand operas premiered in Paris 1. Les vêpres siciliennes (1855) 2. Don Carlos (1867) contains powerful dramatic scenes and
orchestral and harmonic effects typical of his later style F. "Reminiscence motives"
1. Distinctive themes or motives recur at crucial points in the opera 2. This technique was already common among other composers and
Verdi used it in Ernani, Rigoletto, La traviata, Un ballo in maschera, and La forza del destino
G. Aida (1871) is the last of his early period works 1. Heroic quality of French grand opera, with a story based on a plot
sketched by an Egyptologist 2. Wealth of melodic, harmonic, and orchestral color
III. Late Works A. Begin sixteen years after the production of Aida B. During these sixteen years several important works appeared:
1. Verdi's Requiem 2. Bizet's Carmen 3. Brahms's four symphonies 4. Wagner's Ring cycle and Parsifal
C. Otello (1887) was the consummation of Italian tragic opera 1. Publisher Giulio Ricordi's effort to encourage Italian opera 2. The libretto is by Boito, based on Shakespeare 3. Verdi strove for more continuity in the music
a. The music flows without breaks b. Unifying motives are heard in the orchestra c. Scene-complexes are longer
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4. Example: Act IV, set in Desdemona's bedroom a. A brief woodwind prelude includes motives that will recur
later in the scene b. Recitativo passages alternate with fragments of melody c. Desdemona sings the Willow Song ("Piangendo cantando,"
"She wept singing") d. An instrumental epilogue closes the scene and merges into
the next D. Falstaff (1893) was the culmination of Italian comic opera E. Verdi resisted foreign influences, especially German, and some of his
early choruses contain pleas for national unity. By 1859 "Viva Verdi" was a rallying cry meaning "Viva Vittorio Emmanuele Re d'Italia"—Long live Victor Emanuel, king of Italy
Germany
I. Background A. In German-speaking lands the interaction between music and literature
was stronger than in other countries B. The Singspiel integrated aspects of French opera and German national
features C. In 1816 two operas exemplified this: Undine by E.T.A. Hoffmann and
Faust by Ludwig Spohr D. Characteristics of German Romantic opera
1. The source of the plot is medieval history and legend (e.g., from Goethe's Faust)
2. The story involves supernatural beings and events that determine the fate of the protagonists
3. Mortal characters are agents of superhuman forces 4. The triumph of good over evil derives from religious concepts of
deliverance from sin and salvation or redemption 5. German elements of style
a. Folklike melodies for nationalistic flavor b. Chromatic harmony, orchestral color, and an emphasis on
inner voices, instead of the Italian stress on melody II. Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826)
A. He studied with Michael Haydn and became the director of opera at Prague in 1813 and at Dresden in 1816
B. Der Freischütz was Weber's most popular opera 1. The story derives from folklore and is based on Goethe's Faust 2. One character sells his soul to the devil and another makes a pact
with the devil for magic bullets that will help him win a marksmanship contest
3. The finale of Act II (NAWM 120) concerns the casting of the magic bullets
a. The scene opens with an unseen supernatural chorus and ominous orchestral music to portray the Wolf's Glen at midnight
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b. The section in which the bullets are cast is a melodrama (theatrical genre combining spoken dialogue with background music)
c. Music from Act I breaks in just before the casting of the final bullet
d. Daring chromatic harmony helps to portray this scene 4. The overture introduces several themes in sonata-form movement
with a slow introduction C. Euranthe is a grander opera, with no spoken dialogue. It incorporates
recurring themes D. Oberon, Weber's last opera, contains sophisticated orchestral writing
III. Other German Opera Composers A. Schubert
1. Thirteen operas, some unfinished, and seven Singspiele 2. Most of his operas were never staged, and despite some excellent
music were never influential B. Several other composers followed Weber in composing comic operas and
Singspiel IV. Richard Wagner and the Music Drama
A. His significance a. Brought German Romantic opera to its consummation b. Created the genre of the Music Drama c. His harmonic idiom hastened the dissolution of tonality
B. Wagner's essay, Judentum in der Musik (Judaism in Music), made him popular with the Nazis and unpopular with everybody else
0. The Nazi movement in twentieth-century Germany held Wagner to be the highest example of Aryan and German culture
1. Wagner's essay was inspired by his hatred for Meyerbeer and his music, and was used as support for anti-Semitism in German culture
C. Music and drama 0. Wagner believed that the function of music was to serve dramatic
expression 1. All Wagner's important works were for the stage 2. His most important essay is Oper und Drama (Opera and Drama,
1851 and 1868), written while he was in exile in Switzerland 3. He believed in the absolute oneness of drama and music 4. Poetry, scenery, staging, action, and music worked together to
create Gesamtkunstwerk (total or joint artwork) 5. The action of the drama had both an inner and an outer aspect
a. The inner aspect is conveyed by the orchestra b. The outer aspect consists of the events and situations that
further the action, and is sung by the singers 6. The Music Drama is the result of these theories
D. Early operas (to 1850) 0. Rienzi (1842) was a five-act grand opera
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1. Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman, 1843) was a Romantic opera in the tradition of Weber
a. Wagner wrote the libretto himself b. The libretto is based on legend and concerns the
redemption of the hero through the unselfish love of the heroine
c. The background is a stormy sea, depicted vividly in the music
d. Significant themes recur throughout the work 2. Tannhäuser (1845)
a. A grand opera based on medieval legend b. Semi-declamatory vocal writing begins in this work and
becomes Wagner's normal method of text-setting 3. Lohengrin (1850)
a. Medieval legend and German folklore combine in a moralizing and symbolic plot
b. The music flows more continuously between numbers than in previous works, creating long unified scenes
c. Recurring themes represent characters and objects E. Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungs)
0. Four music dramas based on Norse legends 1. A cursed gold ring links the four plots 2. Wagner composed them during the 1850s and 1860s and
completed the last in 1874. He took breaks during this time to compose Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremburg)
3. The first performance was in 1876 in Bayreuth, in a theater built according to Wagner's specifications
F. Leitmotif 0. A musical theme or motive associated with a person, thing,
emotion, or idea in the drama 1. The first occurrence is usually in the orchestra at the first
appearance onstage of the thing represented 2. The first time the leitmotif is sung, the words indicate its meaning 3. The leitmotif recurs whenever its subject appears or when it is
mentioned 4. Leitmotifs can be transformed and varied as the plot develops 5. Similarities among leitmotifs indicate connections between the
subjects they portray, but sometimes Wagner seems to introduce motives for purely musical reasons
6. Wagner's leitmotifs differ from reminiscence motives by other composers
a. His motives are shorter and more concentrated b. They characterize their objects at many levels of meaning c. They are the basic themes of the score
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d. They constitute the building blocks of "musical prose" rather than the musical poetry of more classically constructed melodies
G. Tristan und Isolde (1857–59) uses leitmotifs (see HWM, ex. 18.4) 0. Wagner wrote the libretto, based on a thirteenth-century romance
by Gottfried von Strassburg 1. NAWM 121 integrates action, scenery, and leitmotifs
a. The singing style is often realistic and speechlike b. The orchestra elaborates on the motives appropriate to the
inner or outer content of the plot c. At the climax of the scene the two lovers stare at each other
and a new motive occurs at the words "Sehnender Minne" (passionate love)
H. Wagner's influence 0. Tristan und Isolde was the culmination of Wagner's personal style
and influenced subsequent generations 1. The complex chromaticism of Tristan produced an ambiguity of
tonality that defies definition in traditional terms 2. His concept of Gesamtkunstwerk appealed to later composers 3. Later composers admired his style of orchestration, and his use of
the orchestra to portray the main motives The German Tradition
I. Hugo Wolf (1860–1903) A. Over 250 lieder, one opera, and a few works in the other major genres of
his time B. Each of his collections of lieder was devoted to a single poet or group of
poets 1. Fifty-three on poems by Mörike 2. Fifty-one on poems by Goethe 3. He composed forty-four songs to German translations of Spanish
songs (Spanisches Liederbuch) and forty-six to translations of Italian songs (Italianisches Liederbuch)
C. He prefered Wagner's approach to poetry and did not use strophic settings or folksong idioms
D. NAWM 122, Kennst du das Land? 1. The vocal line is almost speechlike 2. The piano part rather than the voice part supplies continuity 3. His chromatic, ambiguous tonality is derived from Wagner
II. MahlerError! Bookmark not defined. A. Background
1. Mahler was a conductor at numerous opera houses, and also conducted the New York Philharmonic
2. He composed nine symphonies and five song cycles for voice and orchestra
B. Symphonies
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1. Mahler was the last in the line of German symphonists from Haydn through Bruckner
2. Mahler's symphonies are long, complex, and programmatic 3. His symphonies require huge orchestras
a. The Second Symphony requires seventeen woodwinds, twenty-five brasses, many percussion, solo voices, and a large chorus
b. The Eighth Symphony is popularly known as the "Symphony of a Thousand" because it demands so many performers
4. He uses daring combinations of instruments, and his orchestral effects range from delicate passages for few instruments to overwhelmingly gigantic ones
5. Programs are not always explicit a. For the first four symphonies he wrote out programs as
Berlioz did, and sometimes quotes his own lieder, but he suppressed the programs
b. The First Symphony quotes themes from his Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)
c. The Second Symphony is known as the Resurrection Symphony
i. The first movement is long and agitated ii. The second movement is an Andante Ländler
iii. The third movement is an adaptation of one of his Das Knaben Wunderhorn songs
iv. The fourth movement uses a Wunderhorn song and introduces the finale
v. The finale depicts the day of Resurrection and ends with soloists and chorus in the tradition of Beethoven's Ninth
d. The Third Symphony uses a text from Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra and a song from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Mahler's aim in this long symphony was to "construct a world"
e. The Fourth Symphony is his most conventional i. The first movement is Classical in form, with
precise orchestration and recurring themes ii. The second movement is a grim scherzo
representing a Dance of Death iii. The third movement is the slow movement, with
two sections, each restated with variations iv. The last movement was composed before the others,
and is based on a song from Des Knaben Wunderhorn depicting a child's vision of heaven
v. The symphony begins in G major and ends in E major
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f. The Fifth through Seventh symphonies seem to suggest extramusical associations but there are no explicit programs
i. The movements of the Fifth Symphony move from gloomy to joyful moods
ii. The Sixth Symphony, the "Tragic," culminates in a colossal and heroic finale
iii. The Seventh Symphony has two movements of "night music."
g. The Eighth Symphony consists of two huge choral movements
i. The first uses the texts from the plainsong hymn Veni creator spiritus.
ii. The second sets the closing scene from Goethe's Faust
h. The Ninth Symphony makes reference to the Lebewohl (farewell) theme of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 81a
C. Lieder with orchestra 1. Kindertotenlieder (1901–04) is a song cycle for solo voice and
orchestra a. NAWM 123, Nun will die Sonn' so hell aufgehen (Now the
sun will rise again), exemplifies the spare orchestral texture typical of his later works
b. Chamber-music transparency allows delicate counterpoint to shine through
2. Das Lied von der Erde is based on a cycle of six poems translated from the Chinese
a. The orchestra supplements the musical thoughts of the voice
b. Instrumental color and the pentatonic scale create an exotic flavor
c. Ecstatic pleasure and deadly foreboding combine in Mahler's late style
D. Mahler's style would influence later composers including Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern
III. Richard Strauss (1864–1949) A. Background
1. Was the most famous German composer ca. 1900 2. Was a symphonic conductor 3. Composed lieder, symphonic poems, and operas
B. Symphonic poems 1. Strauss's symphonic poems used both philosophical and
descriptive programs 2. Philosphical works include Tod und Verklärung (Death and
Transfiguration, 1896) and Also sprach Zarathustra (So Spoke Zoroaster, 1896)
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a. The program of Tod und Verklärung is the progress of the soul through suffering to self-fulfillment, similar to other nineteenth-century programs
b. Also sprach Zarathustra is a musical commentary on the prose-poem by Friedrich Nietzsche
i. Nietzsche's idea of a superman (Übermensch) was popular at the time
ii. Nietzsche's poem claimed the Christian ethic of humility should be replaced by the ideal of an aristocratic and moral superman who is above good and evil
iii. The opening of Also sprach Zarathustra is Zoroaster's address to the sun. This section became famous after its use in the film 2001
iv. A fugue theme using all twelve notes of the chromatic scale represents the all-embracing realm of science and learning
3. Descriptive works include Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, 1895) and Don Quixote (1897)
a. Till Eulenspiegel has a comic program with some realistic details and a rondo-like form reminiscent of Haydn's humorous works
b. Don Quixote (NAWM 124) uses variations to portray the development of Quixote's and Sancho Panza's personalities through thematic transformation
C. Operas 1. Strauss came to feel the need for words to supplement his
orchestral depictions and turned his energy toward opera. His early operas used declamatory singing in the tradition of Wagner
2. Salome (1905) was Strauss's first successful opera a. Based on the biblical story as portrayed in Oscar Wilde's
one-act play b. Strauss captures the macabre story of Salome's request for
the head of John the Baptist with descriptive harmony and novel rhythms
3. Elektra (1908) a. The first of seven collaborations with the Viennese
playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929) b. Based on Sophocles' play of insane hatred and revenge c. Strauss portrays the emotions through sharp dissonance and
apparent harmonic anarchy based on a single germinal chord rather than traditional tonality
4. Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose, 1911) a. Strauss's operatic masterpiece, set in eighteenth-century
Vienna
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b. The singing style is more melodious than the declamatory style of his earlier operas
c. Sentiment and comedy are conveyed with lighthearted rhythms and Viennese waltzes
5. Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne at Naxos, 1912) originated as incidental music
a. Half opera buffa and half mythological drama b. Recitatives, ensembles, and arias in Classic forms in a
modernized Mozartean idiom make this a model of a neo-Classic chamber opera
IV. Other German Composers A. Humperdinck's opera, Hänsel und Gretel (1893), is typical of the late
nineteenth-century interest in fairy tales. Its style combines Wagnerian leitmotifs and folklike melodies
B. Max Reger (1873–1916) 1. Influenced by Brahms, and like Brahms, used strict forms such as
theme and variations 2. His harmony is a complex mixture of extreme chromaticism and
restless modulation C. Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949) was conservative in his style and is best
known for his operas, such as Palestrina (1917), and a violin concerto New Currents in France
I. Nationalism in France A. The National Society for French Music was founded in 1871 to give
performances of works by French composers 1. This society inspired new works 2. Revived music of the past through editions and performances of
Rameau, Gluck, and others B. The Schola Cantorum of Paris (1894) introduced broad historical studies
of music II. The Cosmopolitan Tradition
A. César Franck (1822–1890) composed in conventional instrumental genres using a traditional approach to thematic development, including the cyclical method
1. He enriched a basically homophonic texture with counterpoint 2. He believed in the social mission of the artist
B. Vincent D'Indy (1851–1931) was a student of Franck and uses cyclical transformation of themes
1. His First Symphony, "On a French Mountain Air," uses a folksong 2. His Istar variations (1896) begins with the most complex variation
and ends with the simple statement of the theme, the opposite of the usual approach to variations
C. Ernest Chausson (1855–1899) used cyclical form and adventurous harmonies. He composed symphonic poems that are no longer heard, and
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chamber music that has experienced a renaissance, such as his Concert Op. 21 for piano, violin, and string quartet
III. The French Tradition A. Classic tradition, focusing on order and restraint rather than expression
1. Subtle patterns of tones, rhythms, and colors replace emotional displays
2. Quiet statements rather than messages about the cosmos or the state of the composer's soul
B. Camille Saint-Saëns combined the French inheritance with high craftsmanship
C. Jules Massenet (1842–1912) composed operas with suave and charming melodies
D. Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) was a founder of the National Society for French Music, and the first president of the Independent Music Society
1. Background a. He studied with Saint-Saëns b. He held several posts as an organist c. He taught at the Paris Conservatory and became its director
2. His style embodies the French tradition 3. His works include songs, chamber music, piano pieces, a Requiem,
two operas, and incidental music to Maurice Maeterlinck's Pelléas et Mélisande
4. Example: NAWM 127, Avant que tu ne t'en ailles (Before you depart) from his cycle, La bonne chanson
a. Fragmentary phrases of melody, one for each verse b. Ambiguous tonality derived partly from plainchant studies c. Nonfunctional harmony using mainly seventh and ninth
chords d. Unusual resolutions create a sense of serenity
5. His students included composer Maurice Ravel and teacher Nadia Boulanger
IV. Claude Debussy (1862–1918) A. Influences on his style
1. The French musical tradition of aristocratic and refined sensibilities and an anti-Romantic conception of music's function, including works by Franck, Saint-Saëns, and Emmanuel Chabrier
2. He both admired and disliked Wagner's music 3. Russian music, especially Musorgsky 4. Impressionism
a. An artistic movement exemplified in the paintings of Claude Monet (HWM, Color plate XI)
b. Impressionist painters were concerned with atmosphere, color, and light
5. Symbolist poetry inspired his Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894)
B. NAWM 128, Nuages (Clouds, 1899)
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1. The chordal pattern comes from Musorgsky's Shumnyi den', NAWM 125
2. Debussy replaces the sixths and thirds of Musorgsky's pattern with fifths and thirds
3. The harmony portrays a sense of movement without a direction 4. Each chord is a sonorous unit rather than part of a cycle of tension
and release, although the work has a tonal focus 5. Melodic shape determines phrase structures 6. The middle of the ABA form is inspired by the pentatonic scale
and the texture of Javanese gamelan music, which he heard at the 1889 Paris Exposition
7. Although he uses a large orchestra, the strings are frequently muted and brass instruments appear in pianissimo passages
8. Coloristic effects in the orchestra include a wide variety of percussion instruments
C. Piano music 1. Many of his piano works are detached in style rather than
impressionistic 2. Examples are Suite Bergamasque and the Children's Corner
D. Vocal music 1. Pelléas et Mélisande, based on the symbolist play by Maurice
Maeterlinck (1862–1949), was his only opera a. Strange, often modal harmonies b. Instrumental interludes carry the mysterious inner drama
2. Several sets of songs E. Debussy influenced later composers from France and elsewhere
V. Erik Satie (1866–1925) A. Headed an anti-impressionist movement and sometimes satirized
Debussy's titles and directions B. His piano music, such as Gymnopédies from the 1880s and 1890s,
anticipates Debussy's unresolved chords and quasi-modal harmonies C. His stylized "realistic ballet," Parade (1917), was based on a scenario by
Cocteau and used scenery and costumes by Picasso D. His economical textures, severe harmony, and antisentimental spirit
influenced other composers, including Milhaud, Honegger, and Poulenc VI. Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
A. His style adopts some impressionist techniques but with clean melodic contours and and functional yet complex harmonies
B. Piano compositions, such as NAWM 129, Le Tombeau de Couperin (Memorial of Couperin, 1917), arranged for orchestra
1. Classical simplicity of form with conventional cadences and transparent texture
2. Orchestral colors such as harmonics and muted instruments do not obscure the texture or form
C. Orchestral music
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1. Ravel was a brilliant colorist who orchestrated his own and others' piano works
2. Many of his works have exotic sources a. Spanish idioms in Bolero (1928) b. Distinctive Viennese waltz rhythms in La Valse (1920) c. Jazz elements in the Concerto for the Left Hand (1930)
D. His songs include settings of folk melodies from many countries, humorous songs, and settings of poetry by Mallarmé
VII. Other French Composers A. Paul Dukas (1865–1935) composed symphonic poems (e.g., The
Sorcerer's Apprentice) and an opera in the tradition of d'Indy B. Albert Roussel (1869–1937) studied with d'Indy and was inspired by
exotic subjects in his early works and neo-Classicism in his later works Italian Opera
I. Verismo ("realism" or "naturalism," literally, "truthism") A. Operas with librettos portraying everyday people in familiar situations,
popular from the 1890s to the 1920s B. Primitive emotions propel people into violent situations. C. Some popular verismo operas are Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana
(Rustic Chivalry, 1890) and Ruggero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci (The Clowns, 1892).
II. Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) A. Composed some verismo operas B. Tosca (1900) has a realistic libretto. C. Musical ideas grow out of the action; Puccini uses modern techniques in a
fluid succession to portray the action. D. Some of his operas portray an exotic locale, for example, Madama
Butterfly is set in Japan and Turandot (1926) is set in China. The Twentieth Century
I. Historical Background A. Between the two world wars (1918–39) there was increasing international
tension, and many countries experienced changes in political ideology B. Countries were increasingly isolated, leading composers to look to their
countries' folk music traditions for inspiration C. Government censorship in Russia and Germany suppressed modern music
and forced composers to create music with folk influences D. From 1950 to 1970 the gulf between the concert-going public and avant-
garde composers widened E. After 1970 composers began to use musical languages and styles that
would reach a wider audience F. Recording and broadcast technology disseminated all styles of music to a
wide audience that included composers Ethnic Contexts
I. Central Europe A. Ethnic styles became available to composers through recording technology
and systematic study
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B. Béla Bartók 1. He was one of the first musical ethnologists
a. He published nearly two thousand traditional tunes b. He wrote books and articles on the music he collected c. He arranged folksongs and used them as the basis for
original works d. His study of folk music influenced his compositional style
2. By 1908 he had developed a personal style that merged folk influences and turn-of-the-century art music styles
a. He used the piano as a percussion instrument b. He pushed the limits of dissonance and tonal ambiguity,
climaxing with the two violin sonatas of the 1920s c. His later works are his most well known, such as the
Concerto for Orchestra 3. Elements of his style that come from eastern European traditional
music: a. Melodic lines derived from traditional melodies or styles b. Powerful motoric rhythms with irregular meters or accents c. Chords resulting from contrapuntal treatment of pentatonic,
whole-tone, or other traditional scales d. There is usually a primary tonal center, and sometimes
there are two or more simultaneous harmonic planes (polytonality)
4. Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (NAWM 130) a. The tritone relationship replaces the tonic-dominant
relationship i. The main tonality of the first and last movements is
A with a secondary tonal area on D sharp ii. The second movement is in C with a secondary
tonal area on F sharp iii. The key areas of the third movement are the reverse
of the second b. The formal scheme is a mirror form: Prologue,
ABCDCBA, Epilogue c. The A sections use the parlando-rubato idiom of Serbo-
Croation song d. The B section uses Bulgarian techniques, including drones
and an irregular dance rhythm (2 + 3 + 3) e. The C sections use two mutually exclusive pentatonic
scales f. The D section is in mirror form itself and includes drones
C. Zoltán Kodály 1. His style includes allusions to plainchant, Renaissance polyphony,
and Baroque music as well as Hungarian music 2. He was more influential in his solfège system of music education
II. The Soviet Orbit
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A. Sergey Prokofiev (1891–1953) 1. He lived outside Russia from 1918 to 1934 and cultivated an
international style 2. After he resettled in the Soviet Union the government criticized his
"formalism," that is, music that did not celebrate revolutionary ideology or working-class experience
3. His Fifth and Seventh Symphonies combine the lyricism required by the government with structural clarity and refinement that he retained from his Western "formalism"
B. Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) 1. He spent his entire training and career in the Soviet system 2. Some of his works were condemned by the Soviet authorities but
he was generally treated well 3. His opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (NAWM 131) enjoyed
success in St. Petersburg and New York before being withdrawn due to official criticism
a. This work exemplifies the realistic and often satirical portrayal of violence that offended Soviet leaders
b. A small-town Lady Macbeth murders her husband c. Although there are diatonic melodies, the Stalinist cultural
watchdogs objected to the dissonance in the work 4. His Fifth Symphony is one of his most popular and is considered a
masterpiece a. Its architecture is true to the symphonic genre b. The opening uses a double canon in the strings c. A second theme is related to the first d. There is a closing theme, which leads to a development
section 5. His Seventh (Leningrad) Symphony (1941) is a programmatic
depiction of the defense of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) against Hitler's armies
C. Post-Soviet music 1. The Soviet government relaxed its control over music in the 1970s
and 1980s, and the U.S.S.R. broke up in 1991 2. The policy of glasnost (openness) made it possible for musicians to
obtain scores and recordings from the West 3. Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998)
a. He composed works in traditional forms (such as concerto grosso) in a modern harmonic idiom, in what he called a polystylistic approach
b. His Third Symphony was composed for Leipzig and uses monograms (such as B-A-C-H) and styles of German composers
4. Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1931) studied at the national conservatory in Moscow
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a. Most of her works have spiritual titles or Christian inspiration
b. NAWM 132, Rejoice! (1988) i. Quotations from spiritual lessons head each
movement ii. The program's subject is reaching for joy, which
occurs at the end with high harmonics III. England
A. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) was the foremost English composer of the early twentieth century
1. His works include nine symphonies, operas, many choral works, and works in other genres, much of which was intended for amateur performers
2. He was nationalistic in his use of English literature, English folksongs, and earlier English composers as inspiration
3. He worked on the new English Hymnal and composed some hymns for it
4. He often quoted or imitated British folk music and used the sixteenth-century modality of Elizabethan composers
5. His London Symphony (1914 and 1920) evokes the atmosphere of London in the tradition of Mendelssohn's atmospheric symphonies
6. His Pastoral Symphony (1922) uses pentatonic scales and folklike trumpet music
B. Gustav Holst (1874–1934) was influenced by English traditional music and by Hindu mysticism
1. His best-known work, The Planets (1916), uses exotic harmony and color to portray Neptune
2. His settings of Walt Whitman poems are sensitive to the texts C. William Walton (1902–1982) composed in a variety of genres including
oratorio and opera D. Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) was the best-known English composer of
the mid-twentieth century 1. His choral works include A Ceremony of Carols (1942) 2. His most celebrated operas are Peter Grimes (1942) and The Turn
of the Screw (1954) 3. NAWM 133, Peter Grimes
a. Based on the narrative poem, The Borough, by George Crabbe
b. The main character is a fisherman who is suspected in the deaths of two young apprentices
c. In the final scene Peter takes his boat out to sea to sink it because of his grief and stress
d. Britten uses tonal and bitonal passages with chromatic elements
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4. His War Requiem (1962) is a large work alternating the text of the Requiem Mass with verses by an English soldier who was killed in France in 1918
E. Michael Tippett (1905–1998) composed vocal and instrumental music 1. He had a long career as a choral conductor, which inspired his
vocal compositions and his interest in historical styles, especially English Renaissance music
2. He was also interested in ethnic materials, including Javanese F. More recent composers include Alexander Goehr (b. 1932), Peter
Maxwell Davies (b. 1934), and Harrison Birtwistle (b. 1934) IV. Germany
A. Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) was a practicing musician, teacher, theorist, and composer
1. He wrote The Craft of Musical Composition, a textbook on composition and an analytical system
2. He taught at the Berlin School of Music and at Yale 3. He was an accomplished violinist and violist and played other
instruments as well B. His early compositions (to 1918) were influenced by Impressionism C. In the 1920s he composed works with a new concept of tonality, including
a song cycle on poems of R. M. Rilke, Das Marienleben (The Life of Mary), two operas, and chamber music
D. In the 1930s he began composing Gebrauchsmusik (Music for Use) to close the gap between composers and the public, including an opera, Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter, 1934)
1. Mathis der Maler was based on the life of the painter Matthias Grünewald
2. In the 1930s Hindemith was under attack from the Nazi government, and Grünewald's story of an artist under stress appealed to him
3. He used a technique called "harmonic fluctuation" in which consonant chords progress toward combinations containing greater dissonance that is resolved either suddenly or slowly (HWM, ex. 20.8)
4. He composed twelve fugues and interludes on each of twelve keys, Ludus tonalis (Tonal Play, 1942) as teaching pieces modeled on Bach's Well-Tempered Keyboard
5. He continued the German cosmopolitan line that included Beethoven, Brahms, and Bach
E. Carl Orff (1895–1982) composed Music for Children for use in schools, and developed a teaching method using movement, singing, and instruments. His best-known work is Carmina burana (1936)
F. Kurt Weill (1900–1950) 1. His first career was as an opera composer in Berlin, where he
embraced Gebrauchsmusik a. His aim was to promote social programs and ideologies
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b. He was more interested in entertaining common people than in pleasing the intellectual elite
c. He called his collaboration with Bertolt Brecht Songspiel because it was a set of songs in imitation of American popular song
d. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) was an opera (1930) that Berlin audiences found shocking
i. The form is a standard number opera, with scenes for individual characters
ii. The pit orchestra includes instruments from popular genres, including three saxophones, piano, and banjo
2. Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera, 1928) is based on the text of Gay's opera (NAWM 87)
a. The cast included his wife, Lotte Lenya, who championed his music
b. It was enormously popular and was banned by the Nazis in 1933
3. His second career was in New York composing operetta and musical theater meant for a popular audience
V. Latin American Nationalist Composers A. Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959) of Brazil B. Mexicans Silvestre Revueltas (1898–1940) and Carlos Chávez (1899–
1978) C. Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983) from Argentina
VI. Neo-Classicism in France A. Neo-Classicism
1. A broad movement from the 1910s to the 1950s in which composers revived, imitated, or evoked styles, genres, and forms of pre-Romantic music, especially Baroque and Classical
2. Some works by Prokofiev and Stravinsky follow Classic models 3. Schoenberg used dance rhythms reminiscent of the keyboard suites
of the 1720s 4. Using a tonal center within a modern harmonic idiom is also
considered Neo-Classic B. Arthur Honegger (1892–1955)
1. His Pacific 231 is a "symphonic movement" that portrays the physical and visual impression of a locomotive rather than its sound
2. His oratorio King David (1923) combined oratorio and opera. Its choruses were written for amateurs and its style is accessible
C. Darius Milhaud (1892–1974) 1. He composed a large amount of music
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2. His works incorporate styles and techniques of the programs they portray, such as Saudades do Brasil (Souvenirs of Brazil), which uses Brazilian folk melodies and rhythms
3. He often employed polytonality 4. He composed several operas in a variety of styles
D. Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) worked in small forms with a witty and graceful style but also composed large-scale works, including his opera Dialogues des Carmelites (Dialogues of the Carmelites, 1956)
Igor Stravinsky
I. Biographical Background A. He was born in 1882 in Russia B. He went to Paris in 1911, and moved to Switzerland in 1914, and back to
Paris in 1920 C. He lived in California from 1940 to 1969, when he moved to New York D. He died in 1971
II. Early Works (to 1913) (include three ballets commissioned by Sergei
Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes) A. The Firebird is in the tradition of Russian nationalists, especially Rimsky-
Korsakov B. Petrushka contains the style elements associated with Stravinsky
1. Blocks of static harmony against repetitive melodic and rhythmic patterns
2. Seemingly unconnected musical events succeed each other without transition
3. Quotation of folk songs and other music for atmosphere 4. Juxtaposition of two tonalities results in the notorious Petrusha
chord (HWM, ex. 20.13), which can also be explained in terms of the octatonic scale
C. Le Sacre du Printemps was the culmination of primitivism 1. The story is of a young girl who sacrifices herself by dancing
herself to death 2. Stravinsky uses folksong quotations and bi-tonality 3. NAWM 134, Danse des adolescentes (Dance of the Adolescent
Girls) 4. Irregular accents destroy any feeling of meter 5. The work was controversial (see vignette in HWM on the riot at the
premiere) III. Transitional Period
A. During the wartime economy of 1913–1923, Stravinsky used smaller instrumental ensembles to accompany stage works, for example, L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale, 1918) and Les Noces (The Wedding, 1917–23)
B. He became fascinated with jazz and incorporated it into his Ragtime and Piano Rag Music
C. His Octet for Wind Instruments (1922–23) marks the end of this period IV. Neo-Classicism (1923–1951)
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A. Stravinsky's neo-Classicism incorporates balance, objectivity, and absolute music (as opposed to program music), and leaves Russian nationalism behind
B. His style began to change in his Pulcinella (1920), a ballet for Diaghilev based on a commedia dell'arte scenario. Stravinsky's study the music of Pergolesi while preparing for this work led him to the music of the past
C. In later works he would borrow from Bach, Weber, Tchaikovsky, and Machaut
D. His debt to the Classic era is evident in diatonic works with clear tonal centers in Classic forms: Piano Sonata (1924), Symphony in C (1940), and Symphony in Three Movements (1945)
1. The exposition of the Symphony in C includes some harmonic ambiguity despite having a tonal center on C
2. The Symphony in Three Movements uses turns and trills and parallel sixths in the style of the eighteenth century and long melodies in the style of Bellini
E. The Rake's Progress (1951) is his last neo-Classic work 1. It is based on a series of engravings by Hogarth, with a libretto by
W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman 2. The scenes use recitatives, arias, and ensembles 3. Harpsichord accompaniment 4. Melodies are Mozart-like
F. Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King, 1927) is an oratorio-opera G. The Symphony of Psalms (1930) for chorus and orchestra is one of the
great works of the twentieth century 1. Stravinsky chose to use Latin from the Vulgate Bible 2. Baroque features include ostinato constructions and fugue 3. Ostinato patterns in different voices do not usually coincide,
resulting in many possible chords within a diatonic framework, dubbed "pandiatonicism" by some
V. Works from the 1950s and 1960s A. Gradually adopted some of the techniques from the Schoenberg school B. Include In memoriam Dylan Thomas (1954) and Threni (1958) for voices
and orchestra Schoenberg and His Followers
I. Schoenberg A. Devised a twelve-tone system that springs from late German Romanticism B. Early works
1. Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night, 1899), for string sextet, inspired by Tristan
2. Gurrelieder (Songs of Gurre, 1901) for five soloists, narrator, four choruses and large orchestra is reminiscent of Mahler and Strauss
C. Second creative period includes works that move away from post-Romantic giganticism and chromatic tonality to smaller forces and atonal composition
1. Coloristic use of instruments becomes more important
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2. Rhythm and counterpoint become more complex, for example, the First String Quartet (1905) in D minor has a few germinal motives that evolve into themes through variation and combination
3. Around 1908 Schoenberg's works become atonal D. Atonality (music that is not based on a key center)
1. Late Romantic composers' extreme chromaticism had been breaking down the tonal system
2. Schoenberg's Gurrelieder and other works explored extreme possibilities of chromaticism within the limits of tonality
3. The last movement of the Second String Quartet and the Das Buch der hängenden Gärten (Book of the Hanging Gardens) mark the transition to atonality
4. Pierrot lunaire (Moonstruck Pierrot, 1912), NAWM 135 a. Cycle of twenty-one songs published by the Belgian
symbolist poet Albert Giraud b. Scored for a woman's voice with a chamber ensemble c. The voice part is set in Sprechstimme (speaking voice or
speech-song) that approximates the written pitches d. No. 8 Nacht has a unifying four-note motive that appears
constantly in various note values throughout (called "pitch-class set" by later theorists)
e. No. 13 Enthauptung (Beheading) evokes graphic images of a scimitar and knocking knees with the kind of exaggeration used by expressionist painters
E. Expressionism 1. Expressionist painters depicted real objects in distorted
representations to reflect their feelings 2. In music, expressionism portrays the inner emotional life of the
modern person a. An outgrowth of Romanticism b. The opposite of impressionism, which depicts external
objects c. The emotions portrayed are tension, anxiety, and fear d. Sigmund Freud's theories of the subconscious were
developed at about the same time 3. Examples: Erwartung and Pierrot lunaire, which use forceful and
direct music F. Twelve-tone method ("dodecaphonic")
1. Developed by Schoenberg by 1923 a. The basis of each composition is a row or series consisting
of all twelve pitches arranged in an order chosen by the composer
b. The rows are used as melodies, harmony, or counterpoint c. Rows may be transposed, intervallically inverted, arranged
backward (retrograde), or any combination of these techniques
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d. The composer exhausts all twelve pitches before starting again
2. Among Schoenberg's first twelve-tone works were Five Piano Pieces Op. 23 (1923) and Variations for Orchestra (1937), NAWM 136
3. NAWM 136, Variations for Orchestra, blends traditional and twelve-tone techniques
a. The subject uses the row, divided into motives of three to six notes
b. The first variation develops the motives of the theme c. The second variation retains the motives' rhythmic and
intervallic shapes d. By the sixth variation the theme is transformed and new
ideas are added G. Moses und Aron (1930–32) is a three-act opera on Schoenberg's own
libretto, using Sprechstimme 1. The main characters are the Old Testament philosopher and
mystic, Moses, Aron, a statesman-educator, and the people of Israel (chorus)
2. Six solo voices sing from the orchestra pit representing the Voice of God
3. The entire opera is based on one tone row (HWM, ex. 21.2) II. Alban Berg (1885–1935)
A. Was a student of Schoenberg B. He used tone rows with vestiges of tonality and composed works with
more warmth of feeling than those of other composers C. His major works were Lyric Suite for string quartet (1926), a Violin
Concerto (1935), and two operas, Wozzeck and Lulu D. Wozzeck (composed 1917–21, first performed 1925)
1. An atonal expressionist opera with a libretto arranged by Berg from fragments of a drama by Georg Büchner (1813–1837)
2. The character of Wozzeck represents poor people who are hapless victims of their environment
3. Three acts, with orchestral interludes connecting the changes of scene
4. Pitch-class sets and leitmotifs unify the work 5. The first act contains movements in Baroque forms 6. NAWM 137 (Act III, Scene 3)
a. Wozzeck has just murdered his unfaithful mistress and goes to a tavern to sing, dance, and drink
b. Repeating rhythmic patterns recur frequently c. The voices use ordinary speech, Sprechstimme, and
conventional singing 7. The Lyric Suite and the Violin Concerto
a. Connect the new style with styles from the past b. Are only partially written in the twelve-tone method
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III. Anton Webern (1883–1945) A. Represents the cool constructive side of Schoenberg's approach B. Webern never used Sprechstimme and composed no operas C. His style
1. Economical with extreme concentration, resulting in short compositions
2. Melodic lines often divided among different instruments (pointillism)
3. Imitative counterpoint, often canonic, with no tonal implications 4. Simultaneous duple and triple divisions of the measure 5. Dynamics notated very precisely 6. Unusual instrumentation, with special effects such as pizzicato,
harmonics, and muting 7. Both instrumental and vocal works in chamber style
D. Symphony Op. 21, NAWM 138, uses serial technique 1. The ear perceives a static mosaic of instrumental colors 2. The movement uses canon within a tightly organized form
consisting of exposition, development, and recapitulation 3. Series is transposed, inverted, and divided among instruments
IV. After Webern A. After the end of World War II many composers used twelve-tone
composition or a modification of it 1. Darmstadt "Holiday courses for new music" inspired continued use
of twelve-tone technique 2. Composers who went to Darmstadt admired Webern 3. Each composer cultivated his own personal language and style
B. Serialism 1. "Total serialism" is the application of twelve-tone technique to
musical elements other than pitch: duration, intensity, timbre, texture
2. Milton Babbitt (b. 1916) combines series of pitches and durations in his Three Compositions for Piano (1947)
3. Total serial compositions give the listener an impression of randomness
4. The system became less rigid in the 1950s; for example, Pierre Boulez's Le Marteau sans maitre (The Hammer without a Master, 1954; revised 1957) fuses pointillist style, serial method and sensitivity to the text
C. Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) 1. Born in Avignon, studied in Paris, and became a professor of
harmony at the Paris Conservatory in 1942 2. He experimented with total serialism, for example, Mode de
valeurs et d'intensités (from Quatre études du rythme for piano, 1949), inspiring Boulez's Structures (1952), his first attempt at total serialism
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3. Messiaen wrote down birdsongs in musical notation and used the transcriptions in his compositions
4. NAWM 139, Méditations sur la mystère de la Sainte Trinité (Meditations on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity) for organ (1969) uses motives that represent theological and mystical ideas, and bird calls, which he had transcribed
5. Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time, 1941) for violin, clarinet, cello, and piano was written at a German prison camp in 1941 when the composer was a prisoner
a. He incorporates elements from fourteenth-century isorhythm and the repeating patterns of Indian music (which he had studied)
b. The first movement, Liturgie de cristal (Crystal Liturgy), uses a "rhythmic pedal," a repeating rhythmic pattern that overlaps with a melodic pattern (Example 21.6)
6. Other techniques include non-retrogradable rhythms, rhythms in palindrome that are the same backward or forward
7. Complex vertical sound aggregations 8. Sources of pitch organization include plainchant modes, major-
minor tonality, octatonic scales, and pitch-sets Recent Developments
I. New Timbres A. Unfamiliar sounds produced by conventional instruments
1. Flutter-tongue on wind instruments 2. String techniques include col legno (playing with the wood of the
bow), harmonics, glissando B. Dense clusters of tones or "bands" of sound for strings or voices C. New instruments, including vibraphone, Ondes Martenot, and an
expansion of the percussion section of the orchestra D. Edgard Varèse (1883–1965) considered timbre more important than
melody and harmony 1. Ionisation (1933) for a battery of conventional percussion
instruments plus chains, anvils, and sirens 2. Blocks and masses of sound are the basis for form 3. Déserts (1954) and Poème électronique (1958) use electronic
sounds (see Chapter 22) II. Electronic Resources
A. Musique concrète of the late 1940s manipulated recorded sounds that were then combined on tape
B. Sounds generated by electronic instruments, such as Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge (Song of the Youths, 1956), used both musique concrète and electronic sounds
C. New technology 1. By the 1980s electronic keyboards combined with computers
eliminated the need for tape splicing in the studio
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2. Computers allowed the composer to control all aspects of the composition: pitch, timbre, dynamics, rhythm
3. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) allowed composers to translate digitally encoded music directly into an instrument
4. Many works are intended for live performer with computer-generated music, or for the performer/composer to improvise using synthesizers
III. Influence of Electronic Music A. Electronic instruments inspired composers to find new timbres with
traditional forces B. Dispersing sounds throughout a hall by loudspeakers (e.g., Varèse's
Poème électronique) could be accomplished by separating groups of performers
C. The pitch continuum (an unbroken range of sound from the lowest to the highest audible frequencies, without distinguishing separate tones of fixed pitch)
1. Sprechstimme only approximated pitch, and Varèse's sirens used a continuum of pitches
2. Krysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) uses the pitch continuum a. Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960) calls for
instruments to play without definite pitches b. Canticum canticorum Salomonis (Solomon's Song of
Songs, 1970–73) for solo vocal ensemble and orchestra uses fluctuating bands of pitches
3. György Ligeti (b. 1923) a. Atmosphères (1961) for fifty-six muted strings with
woodwinds, playing all the notes of the chromatic scale simultaneously, with instruments dropping out to leave smaller groups
b. Lontano for orchestra (1967) begins with a single pitch. Others enter to create a harmonic system (unrelated to conventional tonality) that incorporates gradually changing relationships, "harmonic crystallization."
IV. Indeterminacy A. Leaves at least one element to the performer's discretion B. The degree of freedom is programmed for each composition
1. Composers may give performers a selection of choices 2. In an "open" form, performers may choose for themselves or have
their choices dictated by a device C. Karlheinz Stockhausen (b. 1928) was influenced by John Cage (see
Chapter 22) 1. Klavierstück XI (Piano Piece No. 11, 1956) notates several short
segments of music that can be put together as the player wishes, within a range of choices for combining the segments
2. Opus 1970 is for four players and four loudspeakers a. Players start and stop a prerecorded tape
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b. Fragments of music by Beethoven and other composers ("quotations") combine. (For more on quotation, see Chapter 22.)
D. Witold Lutos£awski (1913–1994) used indeterminacy selectively 1. He was influenced by Bartók and serialism 2. In Symphony No. 2 (1966–67) the conductor signals the beginning
of each section, resulting in a series of harmonically static blocks 3. Symphony No. 3 (1983) combines individual improvisation with
harmonic blocks in sections E. Impact of indeterminacy
1. New kinds of notation combining traditional notes on staves and graphic symbols
2. No two performances of a piece are identical The Historical Background
I. Music in the Colonies A. Psalm singing is the earliest documented music-making in North
American colonies 1. The Bay Psalm Book (1640) was the first book printed in North
America a. The first edition had psalms without notated music b. The ninth edition (1698) furnished thirteen melodies
2. In the eighteenth century, singing schools trained amateurs to sing psalms and anthems in parts
3. William Billings (1746–1800) issued several collections of psalm and hymn settings, and anthems
a. Examples: The New England Psalm Singer (1770) and The Continental Harmony (1794)
b. Most of his four-part settings were homophonic harmonizations on newly composed melodies, such as Chester
c. His later collections included fuguing tunes, which use imitation in the middle sections and unconventional voice-leading. (See vignette excerpted from The Continental Harmony.)
II. Immigration and Its Influences A. Moravians
1. German-speaking Protestants from Moravia and Bohemia who settled in Pennsylvania and North Carolina
2. They sang concerted arias and motets in their church services 3. They imported music from abroad
B. German immigration 1. After the 1848 Revolution and crop failures in Germany, many
Germans came to America, making German immigrants the dominant force in American music education
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2. Hermann Kotzschmar settled in Maine and taught John Knowles Paine (1839–1906), who became the first music professor at Harvard
III. Music in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries A. John Knowles Paine (1839–1906)
1. Student of Hermann Kotzschmar 2. Studied organ in Berlin 3. Became a prominent organist and composer 4. First professor of music at Harvard
B. Lowell Mason (1792–1872) was an influential German-educated musician 1. Born in Massachussetts; studied music with Frederick Abel, a
German immigrant 2. Became superintendent of music in the Boston public schools and
president of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society; led the founding of the Boston Academy of Music in 1833
3. Reformed New England hymnody and composed original tunes still used in American hymnals
C. Religious music in the South 1. Shape-note notation for hymns was used in the South, for example,
The Sacred Harp (1844) 2. After the Civil War the Fisk Jubilee Singers popularized Negro
spirituals by touring Europe and the United States singing in polished performances
D. New England composers after John Knowles Paine 1. Paine's composition students included John Alden Carpenter
(1876–1951) and Arthur Foote (1853–1937) 2. Amy M. Cheney (Mrs. H. H. A. Beach)
a. Had no formal training in composition b. Taught herself by studying the works she performed on
piano c. NAWM 140 Quintet for Piano and Strings (1908)
IV. Brass and Wind Bands A. Were the instrumental counterparts of singing schools B. The earliest were military bands, but soon they were in every town and
school C. The main genres were marches, quicksteps (fast marches), dances,
arrangements of popular songs, and display pieces for soloists D. John Philip SousaError! Bookmark not defined. (1854–1932) was the
most famous of the bandmaster-composers 1. In 1880 he became leader of the U.S. Marine Band 2. In 1892 he organized his own band and went on world tours 3. He composed more than a hundred marches, including The Stars
and Stripes Forever (1897) E. Edwin Franko Goldman (1878–1980) and his son, Richard Franko
Goldman (1910–1980) promoted the idea of the summer town-band concert through nationally broadcast concerts from New York
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Vernacular Music
I. Ragtime (1890s–early 1900s) A. Origins in the cakewalk, a strutting dance for couples used in minstrel
show finales B. Syncopation against a regular bass rhythm, sometimes with silence on the
downbeat, derived from the clapping or "patting" juba of American blacks, which itself derived from African music
C. Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin (1868–1917) inspired a craze for ragtime music, used for dancing to steps such as the turkey trot, chicken glide, and foxtrot
II. Blues A. Began in the rural south ca. 1900 B. Laments over loss of a lover or job, or general depression C. Text consists of a line that repeats followed by a line that rhymes with the
first D. Melodies used "blue notes," flatted third, seventh, and sometimes fifth
scale degrees of the major scale E. Chords in the guitar, piano, or band were in European triadic harmony,
eventually evolving to a pattern of tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords over a period of twelve measures
F. An instrumentalist improvised the "breaks" at the ends of lines, like African choral responses
G. Example: St. Louis Blues by W.C. Handy (1873–1958) with Louis Armstrong on cornet
III. Jazz A. Jazz evolved from ragtime and blues, ca. 1915 B. Improvisation on an existing tune or scheme is the essence of jazz C. New Orleans jazz
1. Players practiced group improvisation, with a counterpoint of improvised melodic lines alternating with improvised solo sections
2. Example: King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band of the 1920s 3. Typical ensemble consisted of cornet, clarinet, trombone, piano,
banjo, and drums D. Big bands developed in the 1920s for dancing in large venues
1. Both white and black band leaders organized big bands, based on swing of black bands
2. Typical instrumentation consists of sections of trumpets, trombones, and saxophones and sometimes other instruments, with a rhythm section of double bass, piano, guitar, and drums
3. Solos were improvised but the arranger wrote down most of the song as a chart for the band
4. Later big band repertoire included more and more popular songs that the band accompanied
5. Duke Ellington (1899–1974) composed some works that were not meant for dancing, such as Mood Indigo (1930) and Concerto for Cootie (1940)
167
E. Modern jazz 1. Bebop or bop (1940s and 1950s) was more improvisational than
big band music 2. Bop music was not for dancing, and included dissonances and
complex rhythms 3. Bop demanded a lot of attention on the part of listeners 4. Bop recordings have become classic, such as those of Dizzy
Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker IV. Country Music
A. Developed in the southeast, based on traditional Anglo-American ballads and fiddle tunes
B. Record companies marketed music that combined Eastern hillbilly music with cowboy themes and manners, for example, Gene Autry's music
C. Singer strums the accompaniment on guitar D. Bands, when used, were dominated by violins and guitars and adapted
some of the practices of jazz E. Nashville's Grand Ole Opry radio show promoted more conservative
music, such as that of Hank WilliamsError! Bookmark not defined. and Johnny Cash
V. Rhythm-and-Blues A. The post-World War II urban black counterpart to country music B. Small groups consisting of a solo vocalist or a vocal quartet, with
keyboard, guitar, bass, and drums C. The rhythmic style is more insistent than blues, with an emphasis on the
second and fourth beats D. Example: Hound Dog, by Willie May (Big Mama) Thornton (1926–1984)
and Elvis Presley (1935–1977)
VI. Rock-and-Roll A. Combined rhythmic style of rhythm-and-blues with country-and-western
guitar B. Launched in 1955 with Rock around the Clock by Bill Haley (1925–1981),
which was featured in the film Blackboard Jungle C. Elvis Presley was successful with a southern version of the amalgamation D. Instrumentation consisted of guitar for both rhythm and melody, with
jazzlike rejoinders by a saxophone E. Texts were about teenage love and sex F. The British group The Beatles sang a creative version of rock-and-roll
from 1964 to 1970 VII. Musical Comedy (Broadway musicals)
A. Stage music with the plot built around songs, vocal ensembles, and dances B. Most composers collaborated with the same lyricist on several productions
1. Richard Rodgers with Lorenz Hart, and later with Oscar Hammerstein
2. Frederick Loewe with Alan Jay Lerner
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C. Leonard Bernstein, conductor of the New York Philharmonic, composed music for On the Town and West Side Story, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
D. George Gershwin incorporated aspects of musical theater in his works, and composed a folk opera, Porgy and Bess, that works as both a musical and as an opera
E. Many of the songs from Broadway musicals remain standards for jazz improvisation long after the original musical is forgotten, such as Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Foundations for an American Art Music
I. Charles Ives (1874–1954) A. Biographical background
1. Studied music with his father, a bandmaster and church musician 2. Studied at Yale with Horatio Parker and served for a time as a
church organist in New Haven 3. He worked in the insurance business after deciding he could not
work with the musical establishment 4. His isolation allowed him to create highly original works, most of
which were not published in his lifetime 5. Most of his compositions were composed between 1890 and 1922,
and public recognition came after 1930 B. Second Piano Sonata, Concord, Mass., 1840–60 (1916–19), published
privately 1. Attempts to present his impression of the spirit of
transcendentalism, as set forth by Emerson, Thoreau and the Alcotts
2. The first and last movements are composite impressions C. Conventional and unconventional elements are mingled in Ives's works
1. He used borrowed material for formal and expressive purposes a. Borrowed melodies introduce works and then are
transformed b. Borrowed forms govern the structure c. Two or more familiar tunes appear together for humorous
or shocking effects d. Quotations from familiar tunes reinforce the text
2. Example: "They Are There!" NAWM 141 a. Composed in 1917 as "He Is There" to mark the United
States' entry into World War I b. Revised for World War II and retitled "They Are There!" c. The text paraphrases patriotic songs d. Patriotic tunes appear as invocations and enforce the text e. "O Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" at mm. 19–20 f. "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Star-Spangled Banner"
and "Reveille" 3. He influenced younger composers by his apparently irrational tone
clusters, independent layers of sound, and borrowed melodies
169
II. Carl Ruggles (1876–1971) A. Composed atonal music B. Even so, had a friendship with Ives
III. Henry Cowell (1897–1965) A. Born in California B. Balanced the northeastern composers' European orientation with
influences from the Midwest and Asia C. Piano music
1. He experimented with new effects from the grand piano 2. The Aeolian Harp (1923) requires the performer to strum the
strings 3. The Banshee (1925) requires an assistant to hold the damper pedal
down while the pianist plays glissandos and sometimes rubs the lower strings along their length
4. Tone clusters achieved by striking the keys with the fist or forearm D. In his later works he used folk music, fuguing tunes, and non-Western
music E. He published his own and others' scores in New Music, a periodical
IV. Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953) A. Composed in Chicago in the 1920s and in New York in the 1930s B. Example: NAWM 142, Violin Sonata (1926)
1. Uses ostinato, dissonant leaps, and whole-tone scale 2. The violin's cadenza breaks the ostinato
V. Edgard Varèse (1883–1965) A. Born in France and moved to New York in 1915 B. Amériques (1918–21) uses fragmentary melodies and loose structures in
the tradition of Debussy, but anticipates his later interest in sound masses C. Integrales uses masses of sound with an Ives-like intrusion of a fanfare
and other techniques that depict New York City's urban noise VI. Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
A. Studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris B. His early works use jazz idioms and dissonance, for example, Music for
the Theater (1925) C. His later works reflect his desire to appeal to a wider audience
1. Simpler, diatonic harmonies 2. Traditional songs, such as Mexican folksongs in El Salón México
(1936) and cowboy songs in the ballets, Billy the Kid (1938) and Rodeo (1942)
D. Appalachian Spring (1944) was written as a ballet for a small group of instruments but was arranged as an orchestral suite
1. NAWM 143, 'Tis the Gift to be Simple variations 2. The wide spacing of chords and open fifths and octaves suggest
country fiddling E. Many of his later works do not have programs, and he adopted some
features of twelve-tone technique VII. Other National Idioms
170
A. Roy Harris (1898–1979) was a more self-conscious nationalist 1. Some of his works use folk themes, such as the choral Folk Song
Symphony 2. He portrays the American West through modal melodies and
transparent counterpoint B. Virgil Thomson (1896–1989)
1. He studied with Nadia Boulanger and admired Satie's playfulness, directness, and simplicity
2. He set Gertrude Stein's libretto, Four Saints in Three Acts (1928), with a tongue-in-cheek mix of Protestant hymns, patriotic tunes, and other types of music
3. The Mother of Us All (1947) a. Resulted from another collaboration with Gertrude Stein b. Based on the life of suffragist Susan B. Anthony c. Uses repetitive stripped-down triadic accompaniments
C. William Grant Still (1895–1978) 1. Afro-American Symphony (1931), NAWM 144, incorporates blues
in its first movement 2. The third movement incorporates banjo accompaniment
D. Florence Price (1888–1953) composed music incorporating elements of her African-American heritage, for example, Piano Concerto in One Movement (1934) and the First Symphony (1931)
E. Most American composers blended European style with American elements
1. American subjects, for example, American Festival Overture (1939) by William Schuman (1910–1992) and his William Billings Overture (1943)
2. Ulysses Kay (b. 1917) is subtly nationalistic 3. Howard Hanson (1894–1976) was an avowed neo-Romantic 4. Walter Piston (1894–1976) composed in a neo-Classic idiom, as in
his Third Symphony (1948) Music After 1945
I. Abstract Idioms
A. Roger Sessions (1896–1985) employed serialism freely; see his expressionistic Second Symphony (1946)
B. Elliott Carter (b. 1908) experimented with metric modulation, in which the tempo changes proportionally as in some fifteenth-century music, for example, his First String Quartet
1. In the first quartet he uses the all-interval tetrachord, which can be paired to produce every possible interval (Example 22.8)
2. Quartet No. 2 (NAWM 145) gives each instrumental part its own personality that interacts with the others
II. The University as Patron A. Composers in the United States are not supported by the government, as
many European composers are
171
B. University employment gives composers time to compose, access to performers, and a ready audience
C. University composers became isolated from the public but interacted with each other at symposia, leading to an elitist atmosphere
D. Teachers at major universities were able to create local styles 1. In Boston, Nadia Boulanger taught during the war years and
supported Stravinsky's neo-Classicism 2. At Yale, Hindemith developed a group of followers 3. Arnold Schoenberg taught at the University of California at Los
Angeles from 1936 to 1951 and his students became champions of serialism (e.g., Sessions and Babbitt)
4. Columbia and Princeton pioneered electronic music in their electronic studios
5. The University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, Stanford, and the Eastman School of Music each developed their own styles
III. The Post-Webern Vogue A. In the 1950s, university composers became fascinated with the works of
Webern, partly as a rebellion against American nationalism and neo-Classicism
B. Milton Babbitt (b. 1916) expanded on the twelve-tone system 1. He applied mathematical principles to tone rows 2. He was the first to apply serial principles to rhythm (Three
Compositions for Piano, 1947) 3. He derived new rows from original rows in his Second String
Quartet (1954) 4. In the Third String Quartet (1970) each segment of the piece
contains the sum of the parts of the row or aggregate (the unordered set of pitch-classes of the chromatic scale) while each voice may have the row over the course of several segments, for maximum interrelatedness of material, or maximalism
IV. New Sounds and Textures A. Conlon Nancarrow experimented with player piano to produce music that
could not be performed by a human B. Harry Partch (1901–1974) sought a new system inspired by non-Western
musics 1. He used new instruments that could play forty-three notes per
octave 2. He also used unusual instruments, such as physics bowls and
marimba C. George Crumb creates unusual sounds from traditional instruments and
also uses objects as instruments 1. Ancient Voices of Children (1970) uses a toy piano, a musical saw,
and instruments from Asia 2. Black Angels (1970), NAWM 146, derives special sound effects
from a string quartet using electronic amplification and unusual bowing techniques
172
D. Electronic music 1. Purely electronic music lacks the human element that audiences
appreciate 2. The combination of prerecorded tape and live performer is more
common a. Philomel (1964), NAWM 147, by Milton Babbitt combines
live voice and electronically altered pre-recorded voice b. Voice and tape respond to each other
3. Jacob Druckman produced dialogues between live performers and recorded electronic music at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Studio, including Animus I-IV
4. High-speed computers in combination with live performers enable composers to create electronic parts that respond to the performers' actions
5. Digital instruments can play predetermined works in live performance
V. Third Stream A. Combines jazz and European concert music B. Before 1950 many composers incorporated jazz elements into individual
works 1. European-style composers such as Debussy, Stravinsky, and
Milhaud used jazz rhythms, harmonies, or improvisation in some works
2. George Gershwin blended jazz and art music in Rhapsody in Blue (1924)
3. Duke Ellington composed some symphonically inspired works as expansions of the jazz idiom (e.g., Black, Brown and Beige)
C. In the 1950s some composers made a more deliberate attempt to merge jazz and European music
1. Gunther Schuller (b. 1925) called the combination of jazz and European music Third Stream
a. His Transformation (1957) combines pointillistic twelve-tone composition with modern jazz
b. Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee (1959), No. 3 Kleiner Blauteufel (Little Blue Devil) NAWM 148
2. Other composers used jazz or popular music as models (e.g., Milton Babbitt's All Set, 1957)
3. William Bolcom participated in the ragtime revival of the 1960s, and incorporates jazz mannerisms into many of his works (e.g., Second Sonata for Violin and Piano, 1978)
4. Jazz pianist Anthony Davis (b. 1951) led a jazz ensemble based on improvisation that became the nucleus for his orchestra in the opera, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (1984), which combines modern jazz with Stravinskyesque composition
VI. John Cage and Indeterminacy
173
A. Random techniques cause the listener to hear sounds individually, hearing each as it comes along rather than connecting them.
B. Audiences hear unintentional sounds as well as intentional ones. C. John Cage contextualized random sounds with Asian aesthetics and
developed indeterminacy 1. 4’33’’ (Four Minutes and Thirty-three Seconds, 1952) directs the
performer(s) to sit silently while noises from the hall or outside constitute the performance
2. He used the Chinese I Ching (Book of Changes) to determine the pitches of Music of Changes (1951)
D. Cage's protegés included Morton Feldman (1926–1987) and Earle Brown (b. 1926)
E. Entropy, which means total randomness in the context of physics, sometimes also refers to indeterminant music
VII. Minimalism A. Sources of minimalism
1. In the 1960s composers found inspiration in the musical traditions of Asia
a. Indian ragas use changing patterns in controlled improvisation
b. Gamelan music of Java and Bali creates complex structures from repetition of simple rhythmic and melodic patterns
2. Synthesizers created the ability to improvise over prerecorded patterns
3. The directness, hypnotic rhythms, and repetition in rock also inspired composers
4. Some New York artists designed cyclic and repetitive structures consisting of simple elements (see Color Plate XVI)
B. La Monte Young (b. 1935) was one of the pioneers, using improvisation over a fundamental drone on synthesizer in The Tortoise: His Dreams and Journeys (1964)
C. Terry Riley (b. 1935) 1. Was a member of La Monte Young's ensemble 2. Experimented with tape loops containing repetitions of short
phrases, and then piling them up on each other 3. His A Rainbow in Curved Air (1970) is improvisational, inspired
by Indian music D. Steve Reich (b. 1936)
1. Was inspired by experiments with tape loops to develop a quasi-canonic technique in which performers play slightly out of phase with each other.
2. His Violin Phase (1967) juxtaposes a live violinist with a second one on tape. The original and the revised version for four violins (1979) use phasing (HWM, ex. 22.11)
E. Philip Glass (b. 1937) 1. Studied at the Juilliard School and with Nadia Boulanger
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2. In Paris he met and worked with Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar 3. In the mid-1960s he composed music that combined the rhythmic
organization of Indian music with simple harmonic progressions and the amplification of rock music
4. Einstein on the Beach (Metropolitan Opera House, 1976) a. One-act, four-hour opera b. Non-narrative, sung to solfège syllables c. Orchestra includes electronic keyboards, woodwinds, and a
solo violinist 5. Although he has received numerous commissions for other
organizations, many of his works are for his own ensemble 6. His later works (e.g., The Voyage, 1992, which commemorated
Columbus's trip to the New World) are more conventional in their arias and recitatives than his earlier stage works
F. John Adams (b. 1947) 1. Phrygian Gates for piano, NAWM 149, represents early
minimalism a. Rapid repetitive figures based on modal scales are the basis
for most of the work b. The pitch range gradually expands and the number of notes
to the bar increases c. The piece goes through "gates," changing from one set of
notes to another 2. Grand Pianola Music (1982) recalls music Adams heard during his
youth in New Hampshire 3. Nixon in China (1987) was a very popular opera, using
saxophones, traditional instruments, and relentless percussion with short, pulsating ideas
VIII. Composers of More Tonal Music A. The mainstream included composers who used tonal centers in their
works, if not functional tonality, because they wanted to appeal to a wide audience
B. Samuel Barber (1910–1981) composed with intense lyrical flow. His most popular work is Adagio for Strings (1936)
C. Ned Rorem (b. 1923) composed songs that set English poetry sensitively D. Gian Carlo Menotti (b. 1911) composed operas in the tradition of Puccini
and Mascagni, but with modern plots that audiences could identify with, such as The Telephone (1947) and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1954)
E. Joan Tower (b. 1938) uses an eclectic or "inclusive" mix of approaches, such as her Amazon, composed for her contemporary-music ensemble, the Da Capo Players
F. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939) composed for particular instruments (e.g., Sonata for Violin and Piano) or for a special occasion (e.g., Symbolon, for the New York Philharmonic's tour of the Soviet Union in 1988)
1. NAWM 150, Concerto Grosso 1985, honors the anniversary of Handel's birth
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2. Zwilich assimilates historical elements and personal style G. Post-modern styles
1. Post-modern architecture turns away from the belief in a linear history and toward an inclusive attitude that admits the style of all epochs as the architect sees fit
2. The musical equivalent of architecture's post-modernism is the use of musical styles and quotations from all periods of music
3. George Rochberg (b. 1918) moved away from serialism and toward quotations of music by Mozart, Beethoven, and his own works
a. Nach Bach (1966) quotes from J.S. Bach's Partita No. 6 for keyboard
b. Rochberg uses some Baroque principles combined with chromaticism
4. Lukas Foss (b. 1922) in his Baroque Variations (1967) reworks existing Baroque works by Handel, Scarlatti, and J.S. Bach
5. Luciano Berio (b. 1925), Sinfonia for Eight Voices and Orchestra (1968)
a. Composed for an amplified vocal ensemble and an orchestra that includes saxophones, harpsichord, and electric organ
b. Quotes from Strauss, Ravel, and Berg 6. David Del Tredici's In Memory of a Summer Day (1980) recalls
Wagner and Verdi IX. Conclusions
A. Improvisation has changed the concept of a composed piece as a work that exists apart from any particular performance, as was true in the Middle Ages
B. Principles of order have been challenged by indeterminacy and chance C. The audience for "serious" music is relatively small, and experimental
music's audience is even smaller. More and more composers are concerned with this gap between composer and listener and have begun building bridges, using music of the past and of non-Western and traditional musics
176
Index
Adams, John .............................. 89, 174 Arcadelt, Jacques ............................... 34 Arezzo, Guido.................................... 12 Armstrong, Louis ............................. 166 Attaingnant, Pierre ....................... 37, 44 Babbitt, Milton..................161, 171, 172 Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel ............. 105 Bach, J. S. ..... 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 129 Bach, Johann Christian............. 106, 113 Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann.............. 105 Baïf, Jean-Antoine de......................... 38 Balbulus, Notker ..................................7 Barber, Samuel......................... 138, 174 Bartók, Bela ............................. 152, 164 Beach, H. H. A......See Cheney, Amy M. Beatles, The ..................................... 167 Beethoven, Ludwig van....114, 116, 117,
118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 136, 145, 146, 155, 164, 175
Bellini, Vicenzo ................137, 140, 158 Bembo, Pietro .................................... 34 Benevoli, Orazio ................................ 62 Berg, Alban.......................146, 160, 175 Berlioz, Hector. 123, 125, 130, 134, 135,
139, 145 Bernstein, Leonard ........................... 168 Biber, Heinrich von............................ 82 Billings, William...................... 164, 170 Binchois............................................. 28 Binchois, Gilles.................................. 25 Bingen, Hildegard of ........................ 7, 8 Bizet, Georges.......................... 139, 140 Blow, John ................................... 71, 73 Boulanger, Nadia ..... 149, 169, 170, 171,
173 Brahms, Johannes..... 125, 126, 131, 132,
134, 135, 140, 148, 155 Britten, Benjamin............................. 154 Bruckner, Anton................126, 135, 145 Busnois .............................................. 29 Buxtehude, Dietrich ....75, 76, 77, 81, 88 Byrd, William ...................41, 45, 48, 52 Cabanilles, Jose.................................. 77
Caccini, Giulio ....................... 56, 58, 62 Cage, John ........................163, 172, 173 Caldara, Antonio ................................ 74 Calvin, Jean........................................ 46 Campion, Thomas .............................. 40 Canzona ................................. 42, 65, 79 Canzonetta ......................................... 36 Carissimi, Giacomo................ 61, 63, 73 Carpenter, John Alden...................... 165 Carter, Elliott ................................... 170 Cash, Johnny.................................... 167 Cavalli, Pier Francesco....................... 59 Cazzati, Maurizio ......................... 73, 80 Cesti, Antonio .............................. 59, 61 chaconne ................................ 60, 70, 79 Chambonniéres, Jacques Champion de67 Chanson ...10, 25, 26, 28, 29, 37, 42, 149 Charpentier, Marc-Antoine........... 73, 74 Chausson, Ernest.............................. 148 Chávez, Carlos ................................. 156 Cheney, Amy M............................... 165 Chopin, Fryderyk ......129, 130, 131, 139 Cimarosa, Domenico........................ 101 Clemens non Papa See Clemens, Jacobus Clemens, Jacobus ............................... 31 Clementi, Muzio ...............117, 118, 127 Clérambault, Louis Nicolas ................ 73 Cologne, Franco of............................. 16 Colonna, Giovanni Paolo.............. 25, 73 Copland, Aaron................................ 169 Cordier, Baude ................................... 21 Corelli, Arcangelo 80, 81, 82, 83, 85, 88,
95 Corneille, Pierre ........................... 53, 69 Cornysh, William............................... 47 Couperin, Francois74, 77, 78, 79, 81, 87,
150 Couperin, Louis.................................. 67 Cowell, Henry.................................. 169 Croix, Pierre de la .. See Cruce, Petrus de Cruce, Petrus de ................................. 16 Crumb, George................................. 171 Dalza, Joan Ambrosio ........................ 44 d'Anglebert, Jean Henri ...................... 67
177
Davis, Anthony ................................ 172 Davis, Miles..................................... 167 De Vitry, Philip.................................. 17 Debussy, Claude .......149, 150, 169, 172 des Prez, Josquin........... See Josquin 29 d'Este ........................................... 35, 36 Dia, Beatrize ...................................... 11 D'Indy, Vincent................................ 148 Donizetti, Gaetano ................... 137, 140 Dowland, John ............................. 40, 45 Druckman, Jacob.............................. 172 Du Fay, Guillaume................. 24, 25, 26 Dukas, Paul ...................................... 151 Dunstable, John.................................. 23 Dussek, Jan Ladislav................ 118, 127 Dvorak, Antonin .............................. 126 Ellington, Duke........................ 166, 172 Ercole I .............................................. 29 Fauré, Gabriel .................................. 149 Fayrfax, Robert .................................. 47 Festa, Constanzo ................................ 34 Field, John ....................................... 129 Foss, Lukas ...................................... 175 Franck, Cesar ............131, 132, 148, 149 Freischütz, Der ................................ 141 Frescobaldi, Girolamo.......65, 66, 67, 77 Froberger, Johann Jakob............... 67, 78 Gabrieli, Andrea................33, 39, 43, 55 Gabrieli, Giovanni.................. 33, 43, 62 Gaultier, Ennemond ........................... 67 Geminiani, Francesco......................... 82 Gershwin, George .................... 168, 172 Gesualdo, Carlo.................................. 36 Gillespie, Dizzy................................ 167 Ginastera, Alberto ............................ 156 Glass, Philip..................................... 173 Gluck, Christoph Willibald...... 103, 135,
138, 148 Goldman, Edwin Franko .................. 165 Gombert, Nicholas ................. 31, 32, 37 Gossec, Joseph ................................. 107 Goudimel, Claude .............................. 47 Gubaidulina, Sofia ........................... 153 Guerre, Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la
......................................37, 67, 77, 78 Gutenberg, Johann ............................. 27
Hall, Adam de la ................................ 10 Hammerstein, Oscar......................... 167 Handel, George Frederich 73, 94, 95, 96,
97, 112, 121, 124, 134, 135, 165, 174, 175
Handy, W. C. ................................... 166 Harris, Roy....................................... 170 Hart, Lorenz..................................... 167 Hassler, Hans Leo ........................ 39, 46 Haydn, Michael.... 94, 98, 106, 107, 108,
109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 123, 132, 141, 145, 147, 165
Hensel, Fanny .................................. 131 Hindemith, Paul ....................... 155, 171 Holst, Gustav ................................... 154 Honegger, Arthur ..................... 150, 156 Hummel, Johann Nepomuk .............. 127 Humperdinck, Engelbert................... 148 Hus, Jan ............................................. 47 idée fixe.................................... 123, 124 Isaac, Heinrich ................................... 30 Ives, Charles ............................ 168, 169 Janequin, Clement.............................. 37 Jenkins, John...................................... 65 Jommelli, Nicolo...................... 102, 135 Josquin..............................29, 30, 31, 45 Keiser, Reinhard ................................ 72 Koch, Heinrich Christoph................. 104 Kodály, Zoltan ................................. 152 Krieger, Adam ................................... 73 Kuhnau, Johann.................................. 79 Lalande, Michel-Richard de ............... 74 Landini, Francesco ............................. 20 Lasso, Orlando di ..............35, 37, 39, 51 Lawes, Henry..................................... 71 le Jeune, Claude ................................. 38 Le Jeune, Claude................................ 47 Leclair, Jean-Marie ............................ 82 Léonin................................................ 14 Lichnowsky, Karl von...................... 117 Lied ....................................38, 132, 146 Ligeti, György.................................. 163 Liszt, Franz 125, 130, 131, 134, 135, 139 Locke, Matthew ........................... 65, 71 Lully, Jean-Baptiste.....69, 70, 71, 83, 86 Lutos£awski, Witold ........................ 164
178
Machaut, Guillaume de ....17, 18, 19, 25, 158
Madrigal .....................19, 33, 34, 36, 55 Maeterlinck, Maurice ............... 149, 150 Mahler, Gustav..................144, 145, 146 Mahler, Gustave....................... 145, 158 Marcello, Benedetto ......................... 101 Marenzio, Luca .................................. 35 Mason, Lowell ................................. 165 Massenet, Jules ................................ 149 Mazzocchi, Domenico........................ 59 Mendelssohn, Felix ....94, 124, 125, 127,
128, 131, 132, 134, 135, 154 Menotti, Gian Carlo ......................... 174 Merulo, Claudio ................................. 43 Messiaen, Olivier ..................... 161, 162 Metastasio, Pietro..................... 100, 101 Meyerbeer, Giacomo................ 138, 142 Milán, Luis......................................... 43 Milhaud, Darius ........138, 150, 156, 172 Monte, Philippe de ............................. 35 Monteverdi, Claudio ..36, 53, 57, 58, 59,
61, 64, 73 Morales, Christobal de ....................... 51 Morley, Thomas................................. 39 Motet ..........................15, 16, 17, 23, 46 Mouton, Jean................................ 31, 32 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus.94, 98, 106,
112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 123, 132, 158, 175
Musorgsky, Modest...........131, 149, 150 Obrecht, Jacob ............................. 28, 29 Ockeghem, Johannes.......................... 28 Okeghem, Johannes............................ 28 Opéra Comique ................................ 138 Orff, Carl ......................................... 155 Padua, Marchetto of ........................... 21 Paganini, Nicolo....................... 124, 130 Paine, John Knowles ........................ 165 Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da . 49, 50,
51, 73, 103, 148 Pallavicino, Carlo............................... 68 Parisian chanson..................... 36, 37, 38 Parker, Charlie ................................. 167 Parker, Horatio................................. 168 Partch, Harry.................................... 171
passacaglia ......................................... 60 Penderecki, Krysztof ........................ 163 Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista .84, 99, 102,
158 Peri, Jacopo.......................56, 57, 58, 59 Pérotin ......................................... 14, 15 Petrarch.............................17, 33, 34, 35 Petrucci .............................27, 29, 30, 33 Pfitzner, Hans................................... 148 Philip the Good, Duke........................ 25 Poulenc, Francis....................... 150, 157 Praetorius, Michael ...................... 41, 46 Prelude 41, 43, 44, 64, 77, 81, 88, 90, 92,
141 Presley, Elvis ................................... 167 Price, Florence ................................. 170 Prokofiev, Sergey..................... 153, 156 Puccini, Giacomo..................... 151, 174 Purcell, Henry .............65, 71, 72, 73, 74 Racine, Jean ................................. 53, 69 Rameau, Jean-Philippe52, 55, 86, 87, 94,
102, 148 Ravel, Maurice..........149, 150, 151, 175 Reger, Max ...................................... 148 Reich, Steve ..................................... 173 Revueltas, Silvestre .......................... 156 Rhau, George ..................................... 46 Ricercare...........................41, 43, 65, 76 Riley, Terry...................................... 173 Rinuccini, Ottavio ........................ 56, 57 Rochberg, George ............................ 175 Rodgers, Richard.............................. 167 romanesca.................................... 60, 61 Rore, Cipriano de ............................... 35 Rorem, Ned...................................... 174 Rossi, Luigi.................................. 59, 61 Rossini, Gioachino ... 123, 135, 136, 138,
140 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques.................... 102 Roussel, Albert................................. 151 Rue, Pierre de la................................. 31 Ruggles, Carl ................................... 169 Sachs, Hans........................................ 11 Saint-Saëns, Camille ........................ 149 Satie, Erik ................................ 150, 170
179
Scarlatti, Alessandro. 68, 72, 73, 94, 104, 175
Scarlatti, Domenico.......................... 104 Schein, Johann Hermann.............. 63, 66 Schnittke, Alfred .............................. 153 Schoenberg, Arnold.. 146, 156, 158, 159,
160, 161, 171 Schubert, Franz 114, 122, 123, 125, 127,
128, 130, 132, 133, 134, 142 Schuller, Gunther ............................. 172 Schuman, William............................ 170 Schumann, Clara Wieck........... 131, 134 Schumann, Robert.... 124, 125, 128, 131,
132, 133, 134 Schütz, Heinrich..................... 63, 73, 75 Seeger, Ruth Crawford..................... 169 Senfl, Ludwig..................................... 38 Sermisy, Claudin de ........................... 37 Sessions, Roger ........................ 170, 171 Shostakovich, Dmitri........................ 153 Sousa, John Philip............................ 165 Stamitz, Johann................................ 106 Steffani, Agostino .............................. 68 Still, William Grant.......................... 170 Stockhausen, Karlheinz............ 162, 163 Strauss, Richard 139, 146, 147, 158, 175 Stravinsky, Igor. 156, 157, 158, 171, 172 Strozzi, Barbara.................................. 61 Susato, Tielman.................................. 37 Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon..... 37, 65, 77 Taverner, John ............................. 42, 47 Tchaikovsky, Piotr Il'yich......... 126, 158 Telemann, Georg Philipp.............. 75, 83 Thomson, Virgil............................... 170 Thornton, Willie May (Big Mama)... 167 Tippett, Michael............................... 155 Toccata .......................41, 58, 65, 67, 88 Torelli, Giuseppe.......................... 84, 85
Tower, Joan................................ 82, 174 Trabaci, Giovanni Maria .................... 65 Traetta, Tommaso .............102, 135, 136 Tye, Christopher ................................ 48 Valderrábano, Enriquez de ................. 45 Varèse, Edgard..................162, 163, 169 Ventadorn, Bernart de ........................ 10 Verdelot, Philippe .............................. 34 Verdi, Giuseppe ........135, 140, 141, 175 Viadana, Lodovico ............................. 62 Vicentino ........................................... 36 Vicentino, Nicola ............................... 35 Victoria, Tomas Luis de ..................... 51 Villa-Lobos, Heitor .......................... 156 Villancico........................................... 39 Villanella ........................................... 36 Vinci, Leonardo ................................. 99 Virdung, Sebastian ............................. 41 Vitali, Giovanni Battista..................... 79 Vivaldi, Antonio .........84, 85, 86, 88, 94 Wagenseil, Georg Christoph............. 106 Wagner, Richard 11, 122, 130, 138, 140,
142, 143, 144, 147, 149, 175 Walther, Johann Jakob ....................... 82 Walton, William............................... 154 Weber, Carl Maria von.....127, 141, 142,
143, 158 Webern, Anton..................146, 161, 171 Weelkes, Thomas............................... 40 Weill, Kurt ....................................... 155 Wert, Giaches de................................ 35 Whyte, Robert.................................... 48 Willaert ........................................ 33, 34 Willaert, Adrian ................................. 32 Williams, Hank ................................ 167 Williams, Ralph Vaughan ................ 154 Wolf, Hugo .............................. 141, 144 Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe................ 174, 175
