Module 4 – Music of the Classical Period
Unit Summary
(20 points)
1. Name two important visual artists (not musicians) from the Classical Period. (1 point)
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jacques-Louis David
2. Name two important writers of literature (not musicians) from the Classical Period. ( 1 point)
Voltaire
Denis Diderot
Jane Austen
3. Discuss the political events and sociological factors that made the Classical Period such a time of violent upheaval. (1 point)
The years 1750 to 1820 were characterized by the Seven Years’ War, the American and French Revolutions, and the Napoleonic Wars. These political events coupled with the drastic social change proven by the shift of power from the aristocracy and church to the middle class,
…show more content…
The music was written for amateurs because composers wanted more control rather than trusting the improviser.
5. What were the new developments in the classical orchestra? (1 point)
There were four groupings: Strings (1st violins, 2d violins, violas, cellos, double basses), Woodwinds (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons), Brass (2 French horns, 2 trumpets), and Percussion (2 timpani).
A Classical Orchestra has a larger number of musicians.
Classical composers exploited the individual tone colors of orchestral instruments. A classical piece has greater variety—and more rapid changes—of tone color. A theme might begin in the full orchestra, shift to the strings, and then continue in the woodwinds.
The strings were the most important; first violins had the melody, along with clarinet melodic solos, while the lower strings accompanied. The brass filled out the harmony, but did not play the main melody. Timpani were used for rhythmic bite and emphasis.
6. Name and describe each of the movements in the standard four-movement pattern in classical forms? (2 points)
Fast movement: The opening movement is usually in sonata form and stresses an exciting development of short motives. It is vigorous and dramatic.
Slow movement: The second movement, not usually in the tonic key, is either in sonata form, A B A form, or theme-and –variations form. It is lyrical and slow.
Dance-related movement: The third movement is
They didn't have their music memorized and they were mostly in step. There were color guard and dancers along with a pit, trombones, trumpets, clarinets, flutes, piccolos, saxophones and sousaphones.
Both Haydn's and Beethoven's first movements are composed in sonata form, with an exposition stated in the opening that is then developed and recapitulated. The size of Haydn's opening movement is somewhat smaller than Beethoven's, whose opening exposition itself seems larger than life. Haydn's first movement is roughly six minutes long, and the length of Beethoven's first movement only exceeds Haydn's by about a minute and a half to two minutes.
There were a lot of instruments you could hear when you first listened to this piece. The first instruments that I heard right away were the violins, flutes, and oboes. As I kept listening I noticed the clarinets, bassoons, cello, viola, and the French horn. The instruments that seemed like they were the most important in this piece were the violins, because they started the piece and through-out the rest of the piece they were always there being the main part of this piece.
20. Discuss the classical concerto. What is a cadenza? A classical concerto usually has three movements occurring in the same order of tempos as the Italian sinfonia: fast-slow-fast. Cadenza is an extended virtuosic passage for a solo instrument.
Like the first movement of his Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67, the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F major is composed in the sonata form, and this represents the most striking similarity between the two symphonies. A sonata consist of three sections: the exposition (wherein the themes are presented), the development (wherein the themes receive new treatment and the drama is heightened) and the recapitulation (in which resolution occurs because the themes return to the home key). Also, both of these include a coda.
The first movement Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso played in sonata form beginning with a soft pianissimo which then developed into a stormy fortissimo which recapitulated throughout the movement. The second movement Scherzo: Molto vivace - Presto also features recapitulation throughout the movement, while the movement’s rapidity was facilitated by the presto tempo of the movement. The third movement Adagio molto e cantabile played in variation form by repeating the same basic melody, with minor alterations. The fourth and final movement called Presto; Allegro molto assai (Alla marcia); Andante maestoso; Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato, represents the most iconic movement of the symphony. This movement begins with a suspenseful presto then developing to reveal the iconic melody of the symphony. Soon after the National Youth Choir of Great Britain performed the chorus which gave the movement a polyphonic
The main instruments that they played were the drums they had a lot of different kind of drums. They other percussion instruments that they had
•There wasn't a fixed, standard orchestral group. Ensembles were usually composed of strings, a few woodwinds, percussion, and the harpsichord providing the basso continuo.
Melody: *A variety of phrase lengths *The most common melodic motion is stepwise (conjunct). *Each section of the piece begins with new melodic material
The first piece, Allegro Ma Non Troppo, un Poco Maestoso, which starts at one minute and thirty-nine seconds, and ends at nineteen minutes and fourty-one seconds in the symphony, started with an accelerando as the starts quite slow and with a gradual pitch, then the music gradually became faster. The movement starts as a D
Playing multiple instruments at one time was still in the experimental stage, but was done to make creative and unusual sounds. String and keyboard instruments were becoming very popular at this time, creating the refined sound, unique to the court. The most popular instrument of that time was the lute,
10) How did the increase in literary styles increase our understanding of this period? How did the political climate influence the quantity and content of literary works? Why do you think there were so many new forms of literature introduced during the first and second centuries?
Deriving from Haydn’s examples, Beethoven’s early piano sonatas have structures ranging from the quite free forms, found in Op. 2 No. 2, to the clarity of form of Op. 22. The moods of the sonatas also vary from aggressiveness of the two C minor sonatas toe the playfulness of Op. 10 No. 2. Moreover, many of these sonatas have four movements, with the third generally termed “minuet” (slow) but occasionally “scherzo” (lively).
Began with the revival of interest in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome which stressed human endeavor and human conduct
At last, the first movement and the last movement have a very strong relationship to keep unity as a whole piece. One of the two factors is that the melody from the last movement is sung in the several parts of the first movement. In the first movement, soprano always sings at the end of the phrase without any repeated word from the text. The melody of the soprano line is always the same melody as the last movement, and the soprano sing the melody in the same order as it sung in the last movement. For example,both movements are constructed by eight verses, and the melody of the first