MU111: Unnerving Exam QuestionA. Name the:

• composer• genre (type of composition), and • briefly explain your reaction to hearing works in this genre.

J. S. Bach: Fugue from The Art of the Fugue

1730 1750 1770 1820

Death of J. S. Bach=End of Baroque

First worksby Haydn Mozart in mature classical style

Early Classical Styles Evident

I. Dates/Basics A. Classical Period Conventionally = 1750-c. 1820

B. Period of transition btw. Baroque & Clasical (1730-1770):

Wright’s end of classical Pd.

C. High Classical Era: “Big 3”=Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

1. Pre-Classical Period 2. Early Classical Period 3. Galant Period

?

D. Classical Era in Music = Age of Enlightenment/ReasonI. Dates/Basics (cont.)

II. Social and Cultural Background to the Classical Era

A. Enlightenment Ideals: Reason & Equality

1. Equality of Access to Ideas

2. Political Equality

3. Social Equality

4. Equality of Taste

B. Musical Consequences of “Equality”= New Audience1. Rise of Public Concerts

2. Comic opera (opera buffa)

= Increased Importance for Instrumental music

II. Social and Cultural Background to the Classical Era

A. Enlightenment Ideals: Reason & Equality

1. Equality of Access to Ideas

2. Political Equality

3. Social Equality

4. Equality of Taste

B. Musical Consequences of “Equality”= New Audience1. Rise of Public Concerts

2. Comic opera (opera buffa)

3. 18th-cent. as the Age of the Dilettante

= Increased Importance for Instrumental music

II. Social and Cultural Background to the Classical Era

A. Enlightenment Ideals: #1. Equality

1. Equality of Access to Ideas

2. Political Equality

3. Social Equality

4. Equality of Taste

B. Musical Consequences of “Equality”= New Audience1. Rise of Public Concerts

2. Comic opera (opera buffa)

3. 18th-cent. as the Age of the Dilettante 4. Simplification: short phrases; often repeated; melody & accompaniment texture (not complex counterpoint)

= Increased Importance for Instrumental music

II. Social and Cultural Background to the Classical Era (cont.)

C. Enlightenment Ideals: #2. Reason/Rational Thought(Esp. logic, unity, order, proportion)

C. Enlightenment Ideals: #2. Reason/Rational Thought

D. Musical Consequences:

Symmetry, Antecedant-Consequent Phrases, Clear Forms

II. Social and Cultural Background to the Classical Era (cont.)

F. Musical Consequences1. Rejection of the artificial

2. Emphasis on the facile, comprehensible: (rejection of complexity, esp. counterpoint)

E. Enlightenment Ideals: #3. Fascination with Nature and The Natural

III. Musical Style in the Classical Era

A. Melody

1. Phrases often stated, then repeated (w or w/o variation)

2. Sections connected by transition (theme vs. filler)

3. Phrases marked off by clear cadences

4. Antecedent/Conseqent pairs common

B. Rhythm

1. Baroque driving, uniform rhythms rejected; instead changes/contrasts in surface rhythm

2. Changes/contrasts can be abrupt or gradual

5. Classical Melodies shorter, simpler, discrete sub-phrases

III. Musical Style in the Classical Era (cont.)

C. Dynamics

1. Specified more by composers

III. Musical Style in the Classical Era (cont.)

C. Dynamics

1. Specified more by composers

2. Gradual changes (crescendo/diminuendo) more important

3. Volume not an ornament but structurally important

D. Harmony

1. Similar to Baroque (mainly diatonic)

2. Harmony frequently changes more slowly (harmonic rhythm)

E .Texture

1. Homophonic/Melody + Accompaniment

IV. Vienna and the Mature Classical Style (after 1770)

A. Haydn, Mozart (1770s), later Beethoven (from 1790s)

B. Vienna as Cultural Crossroads

1730 1750 1770 1820

Death of J. S. Bach=End of Baroque

First WorksOf Haydn Mozart in Mature Classical Style

Early Classical Styles Evident

Classical Period Conventionally = 1750-1820

Wright’s End of Classical Pd.

IV. Vienna and the Mature Classical Style (after 1770)

A. Haydn, Mozart (1770s), later Beethoven (from 1790s)

B. Vienna as Cultural Crossroads

C. Retain Virtues of Enlightenment values(clear, lucid, widely intelligible)

•Irregularity/disruption gains expressive effect

•Reintegration of imitation/polyphony

•Gradual changes project changing emotions

•Reintroduce chromaticism

But re-introduce complexity for expressive effect

D. Bottom Line on High Classical Style:

•Retain: clarity, lucidity, wide appeal of early classical style

•Reintroduce: Complexity. (And against background of simple, complex moments = gain in expressive power!)

Small hint of what’s in store:

Mozart:

Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major (finale)