classical music mrs. paolucci spring, 2009. eighteenth century classicism seeks order, moderation...
TRANSCRIPT
Classical Music
Mrs. PaolucciSpring, 2009
Eighteenth Century Classicism
• Seeks order, moderation
• Idealized the civilization of Greece and Rome
• EX: Monticello
Eighteenth Century History
• French Revolution (1789-99)
• Advances in science (steam engine, electricity, oxygen, the vaccination
• The American Revolution (1775-83)
• Age of Reason (BUT using reason to attack existing order)- Enlightenment (Voltaire, Rousseau)
Classical Music• Lyrical melodies• Repetition of a pattern at
higher and lower pitches• Clear harmonies
(homophonic texture)• Steady temp (will stay in
the same meter until the end
• Movement between keys but returning to the home key
Patronage System
• Gave musicians economic security • Performances moving from palaces to concert
halls• Many composers conducted their own
symphonies (Haydn, Beethoven). Others (Mozart) played own piano concertos
Chamber Music- The Golden Era• Music for a small
ensemble (2-8) with one player to a part
• String quartet (2 violins, viola and cello); duo sonata (violin and piano or cello and piano); quintet (combination of string or wind instruments or string quartet and solo instruments) Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1787)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91)
• Austrian• Began to compose
before he was five (father was composer in the court of the archbishop of Salzburg)
• Rebelled against his patron the archbishop of Salzburg- dismissed for quarreling with him
Continued…
• Established himself in Vienna as a free-lance musician at the age of 25.
• Struggled to win the backing of Emperor Joseph II (composer Antonio Salieri was much more popular!)
Antonio Salieri
Mozart’s Music• The Marriage of Figaro (1786) (opera buffa-
comic Italian opera)• Don Giovanni (1787) (opera buffa)• The Magic Flue (ligher form of German opera
with dialogue)• For Piano (the Fantasia in C minor, Sonata in C
minor)• The Requiem Mass (died the same night
musicians got together to sing through a completed version of it (December 4, 1791)
Symphonies
• Rooted in the opera overture (piece for orcheatra in 3 sections fast-slow0fast)
• Rocket Theme (opening of Eine Kleine Nacht)- aggressive rhythmic theme rising from low to high register at “Rocket” speed
• Drawn our crescendo (Rising slowly to a climax)
Qualities of Mozart’s Music
Chamber Music• Sense of Drama• Contrasting Moods (from
lively and playful to solemn and tragic)
• Carefully weaving orchestration with interweaving lines
Symphonies• Rich orchestration• Depth of Emotion
Comic Opera- The Marriage of Figaro
• A servant Figaro outwits his master, Almaviva