The Enjoyment of Music
Predule 1
“We often
‘listen’ to music as a background to another activity – perhaps studying or for
relaxation. In either case, we are probably not concentrating on the music.”
Before going to a concert, you should:
Before going to a concert, you should:
- Find out the works that are going to be performed.
- Find the information about the works (composers, genres, styles)
Chapter 1
Melody: musical line
Melody: a succession of single pitches that we perceive as a recognizable whole.
Each melody is different; it changes in its range, contour and movement. Range: the distance between the lower and highest notes, it can be narrow, medium or wide. Contour: the overall shape as it turns upward, downward, or remains static (line graph). Pictures page 10. |
Interval: distance between any two pitches of a melody.
Conjunct: melodies that move by small intervals in a joined connected manner. Disjunct: melodies that move in large, disconnected intervals. |
- Component units of a melody:
Phrase: a
unit of meaning within a larger structure.
Cadence: the resting place where the phrase ends, the punctuation in music. Frequency: rate of vibration of a string or column of air, which determines pitch. Note: musical symbol denoting pitch and duration. Amplitude: degrees of loudness or softness of a sound. |
Timbre:
quality of a sound that distinguishes instruments and voices from one another.
Rhyme scheme: describes the similarity in sound of the last syllables in each line (like a sonnet a-b-a-b) Climax: high point in a melodic line. Counter melody; an aacompaning melody, sounding against the principal melody. |
Chapter 2
Rhythm and meter: musical time
Rhythm: the movement of music in time. Beat: basic unit of rhythm, divides time into equal segments. Accented beats: beats that are stronger than others. Meters: organized patterns of rhythmic pulses. Organize the flow of rhythm in music. Measures: how meters are marked off. Measure lines: how measures are marked off (vertical lines). Downbeat: the first accented beat of each pattern. Duple meter: the most basic pattern, alternating a strong beat with a weak beat. Triple meter: three beats to a measure. One strong one and two weak ones. |
Quadruple meter: four beats to the measure. A primary accent on the first beat and a secondary accent on the third beat. Simple meters: beat is divided into two- Compound meters: beat is divided into three. Sextuple meter: has six beats to the measure, or two main beats that each divide into three. Syncopation: a deliberate upsetting of the normal pattern of accents. Offbeat: in between the stronger beats. Polyrhythm: many rhythms. Additive meter: group of irregular numbers of beats that add up to a larger overall pattern. |
“Time is a
crucial dimension in music. This is the element that binds together parts within
the whole: the notes within the measure and the measure within the phrase. It
is thereby the most fundamental element of music.”
Chapter 3
Harmony: musical space
Harmony: describes the simultaneous sounding of notes to form chords and the progression from one chord to the next.
Interval: distance between two tones.
Chord: when three or more tones are sounded together.
Scale: pitches arranged in ascending or descending order.
Octave: an interval of eight notes.
Triad: a particular combination of three tones (common in western music).
The organization of harmony
Tonic: the central tone. do. Serves as a home base around which the other notes revolve.
Tonality: the principle of organization around a central tone, the tonic.
Consonance and dissonance
Dissonance: a combination of tones that sounds discordant, in need of resolution. The tension in music.
Consonance: a concordant, or agreeable, combination of musical tones that provides a sense of relaxation and fulfillment.
Drone: a single sustained tone.
Harmony: describes the simultaneous sounding of notes to form chords and the progression from one chord to the next.
Interval: distance between two tones.
Chord: when three or more tones are sounded together.
Scale: pitches arranged in ascending or descending order.
Octave: an interval of eight notes.
Triad: a particular combination of three tones (common in western music).
The organization of harmony
Tonic: the central tone. do. Serves as a home base around which the other notes revolve.
Tonality: the principle of organization around a central tone, the tonic.
Consonance and dissonance
Dissonance: a combination of tones that sounds discordant, in need of resolution. The tension in music.
Consonance: a concordant, or agreeable, combination of musical tones that provides a sense of relaxation and fulfillment.
Drone: a single sustained tone.
Chapter 4
The
organization of musical sounds
Octave: interval spanning eight notes of the scale.
Half steps: in western music the octave is divided into twelve equal semitones, and from these the major and the minor scales are built.
The formation of major and minor scales
Chromatic scale: the twelve half steps that make up the octave
All western music is made up of the same twelve tones and their duplications in higher and lower octaves.
Sharp: raises a tone by half a step (black keys)
Flat: lowers a tone a half step (black keys)
The major scale
The most familiar sequence of pitches. The scale is created by a specific pattern of whole and half steps, which can be built on any pitch. Western music’s basic progression in harmony is going from tonic to dominant and returning to tonic (do, sol, do).
The minor scale
The main difference from the major scale is that it has a lowered or flatter third degree. Also, in mood and coloring.
Diatonic and chromatic scales
Diatonic: music in a major or minor key that focuses on the seven tones of their respective scale (melody and harmony are rooted in the key)
Chromatic: compositions that introduce other tones that are foreign to the scale.
Other scale types
Other ways to divide the octave:
Pentatonic: five note scale (Africa, asia and native americans)
Tritonic: three note pattern. (Africa)
Microtones: intervals smaller than half step.
Inflection: making a brief microtonal dip or rise from the original pitch (jazz)
The major-minor system
Main chords of a musical work:
1. Tonic: three note triad built on the first scale (I chord) serves as the point of rest.
Active chord: seek to be completed
Rest chord: the resolutions.
2. Dominant: (sol, V) chief active chord, feeling of restlessness and seeks to resolve to the tonic.
3. Subdominant: (IV) triad built on the fourth scale step (fa)
The key as a form-building element
Modulation: the process by which the home key changes to a related key (maybe the dominant), creating tension. (requiring a resolution by returning to the home key).
Transposition: beginning on a different pitch and shifting all the tones to a uniform distance to a different level. (change of pitch level)
Octave: interval spanning eight notes of the scale.
Half steps: in western music the octave is divided into twelve equal semitones, and from these the major and the minor scales are built.
The formation of major and minor scales
Chromatic scale: the twelve half steps that make up the octave
All western music is made up of the same twelve tones and their duplications in higher and lower octaves.
Sharp: raises a tone by half a step (black keys)
Flat: lowers a tone a half step (black keys)
The major scale
The most familiar sequence of pitches. The scale is created by a specific pattern of whole and half steps, which can be built on any pitch. Western music’s basic progression in harmony is going from tonic to dominant and returning to tonic (do, sol, do).
The minor scale
The main difference from the major scale is that it has a lowered or flatter third degree. Also, in mood and coloring.
Diatonic and chromatic scales
Diatonic: music in a major or minor key that focuses on the seven tones of their respective scale (melody and harmony are rooted in the key)
Chromatic: compositions that introduce other tones that are foreign to the scale.
Other scale types
Other ways to divide the octave:
Pentatonic: five note scale (Africa, asia and native americans)
Tritonic: three note pattern. (Africa)
Microtones: intervals smaller than half step.
Inflection: making a brief microtonal dip or rise from the original pitch (jazz)
The major-minor system
Main chords of a musical work:
1. Tonic: three note triad built on the first scale (I chord) serves as the point of rest.
Active chord: seek to be completed
Rest chord: the resolutions.
2. Dominant: (sol, V) chief active chord, feeling of restlessness and seeks to resolve to the tonic.
3. Subdominant: (IV) triad built on the fourth scale step (fa)
The key as a form-building element
Modulation: the process by which the home key changes to a related key (maybe the dominant), creating tension. (requiring a resolution by returning to the home key).
Transposition: beginning on a different pitch and shifting all the tones to a uniform distance to a different level. (change of pitch level)
Chapter 5
Musical texture
Types of texture
Texture: melodic lines that are interweaved and make up the music.
Monophonic: simplest texture. Melody without any harmonic accompaniment or other melodic lines.
Heterophony: two or more lines or voices simultaneously elaborate the melody.
Polyphony: two or more melodic lines are combined and distribute the melodic interest among all parts. This in based on counterpoint (one musical line set against another).
Homophonic: a single voice takes over the melodic interest, and the accompanying lines are subordinate.
Homorhythm: a kind of homophony where all of the lines move together in the same rhythm.
Contrapuntual devices
Imitation: a method used to give unity and shape to the texture when several independent lines are combined. (melodic idea is represented in one voice and then restated in another)
Canon: a strictly imitative work.
· Round: the simplest form of a cannon, in which each voice enters in succession with the same melody that can be repeated endlessly.
Types of texture
Texture: melodic lines that are interweaved and make up the music.
Monophonic: simplest texture. Melody without any harmonic accompaniment or other melodic lines.
Heterophony: two or more lines or voices simultaneously elaborate the melody.
Polyphony: two or more melodic lines are combined and distribute the melodic interest among all parts. This in based on counterpoint (one musical line set against another).
Homophonic: a single voice takes over the melodic interest, and the accompanying lines are subordinate.
Homorhythm: a kind of homophony where all of the lines move together in the same rhythm.
Contrapuntual devices
Imitation: a method used to give unity and shape to the texture when several independent lines are combined. (melodic idea is represented in one voice and then restated in another)
Canon: a strictly imitative work.
· Round: the simplest form of a cannon, in which each voice enters in succession with the same melody that can be repeated endlessly.
Chapter 6
Musical form
Form: a works structure, the way the elements of a composition have been combined, or balanced by the composer (a balance between unity and variety, symmetry and asymmetry, activity and rest).
Structure and design in music
Basic structural elements:
Repetition: fixes the material in our minds and satisfies our need for the familiar.
Contrast: stimulates our interest and feeds our desire for change.
Variation: falls between repetition and contrast, where some aspects of the music are altered but the original is still recognizable.
Strophic form: structure in which the same melody is repeated with each stanza of the text.
Improvisation: performers participate in forming the song (music created on the spot).
Two-part and three-part form
Two basic structural patterns:
The building blocks of form
Theme: when a melodic idea is used as a building block in the construction of a larger musical work.
Thematic development: the expansion of a theme achieved by varying its melodic outline, rhythm, or harmony.
Sequence: when an idea is restated in a lower or higher pitch.
Motive: the smallest fragment of a theme that forms a melodic-rhytmic unit
Call-and-response or responsorial music: a formal practice based on repetition. (leader imitated by a choir)
Ostinato: a structural procedure based on repetition, in which a short musical pattern is repeated throughout a work or a major section of a composition.
Movement: a complete, comparatively independent division of a large scale work.
“Music composition is an organic form in which the individual tones are bound together by a phrase, the phrases within a section, the section within a movement, and the movements within the work as a whole – just as a novel binds together the individual words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and parts.” Page 34.
Form: a works structure, the way the elements of a composition have been combined, or balanced by the composer (a balance between unity and variety, symmetry and asymmetry, activity and rest).
Structure and design in music
Basic structural elements:
Repetition: fixes the material in our minds and satisfies our need for the familiar.
Contrast: stimulates our interest and feeds our desire for change.
Variation: falls between repetition and contrast, where some aspects of the music are altered but the original is still recognizable.
Strophic form: structure in which the same melody is repeated with each stanza of the text.
Improvisation: performers participate in forming the song (music created on the spot).
Two-part and three-part form
Two basic structural patterns:
- Binary (or two part): is based on a statement and a departure, without a return to the complete opening section. A-B
- Ternary (or
three part): extends the idea of a statement and departure bringing back the
first section. A-B-A
The building blocks of form
Theme: when a melodic idea is used as a building block in the construction of a larger musical work.
Thematic development: the expansion of a theme achieved by varying its melodic outline, rhythm, or harmony.
Sequence: when an idea is restated in a lower or higher pitch.
Motive: the smallest fragment of a theme that forms a melodic-rhytmic unit
Call-and-response or responsorial music: a formal practice based on repetition. (leader imitated by a choir)
Ostinato: a structural procedure based on repetition, in which a short musical pattern is repeated throughout a work or a major section of a composition.
Movement: a complete, comparatively independent division of a large scale work.
“Music composition is an organic form in which the individual tones are bound together by a phrase, the phrases within a section, the section within a movement, and the movements within the work as a whole – just as a novel binds together the individual words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and parts.” Page 34.
Chapter 7
Musical expression: tempo and dynamics
Tempo: rate of speed of music. They indicate the character of the music as well as the pace. Tempo markings: grave (solemn; very very slow), largo (broad; very slow), adagio (quite slow), andante (walking pace), moderato (moderate), allegro (fast; cheerful), vivace (lively) and presto (very fast).
“Music is a temporal art, therefore its pace is of prime importance, drawing from listeners responses that are both physical and psychological.”
Modifiers: molto (very), meno (less), poco (little) and non troppo (not too much).
Terms indicating a change of tempo: accelerando (getting faster), retardando (getting slower), tempo (in time, returning to the original pace).
Loudness and softness
Dynamics: denote the volume at which the music is played.
Main dinamics: pianissimo, pp (very soft), piano, p (soft), mezzo piano, mp (moderately soft), mezzo forte, mf (moderately loud), forte, f (loud), fortissimo, ff (very loud).
Directions to change dynamics: crescendo (getting louder), decrescendo of diminuendo (growing softer), sforzando (forcing; an accent on a single note)
Tempo and dynamics as elements of musical expression
The composer adds markings for tempo to help shape the expressive content of a work. But at the ends the ones who have a final say in choosing the tempo that best delivers the message of the music, are the performers.
Tempo: rate of speed of music. They indicate the character of the music as well as the pace. Tempo markings: grave (solemn; very very slow), largo (broad; very slow), adagio (quite slow), andante (walking pace), moderato (moderate), allegro (fast; cheerful), vivace (lively) and presto (very fast).
“Music is a temporal art, therefore its pace is of prime importance, drawing from listeners responses that are both physical and psychological.”
Modifiers: molto (very), meno (less), poco (little) and non troppo (not too much).
Terms indicating a change of tempo: accelerando (getting faster), retardando (getting slower), tempo (in time, returning to the original pace).
Loudness and softness
Dynamics: denote the volume at which the music is played.
Main dinamics: pianissimo, pp (very soft), piano, p (soft), mezzo piano, mp (moderately soft), mezzo forte, mf (moderately loud), forte, f (loud), fortissimo, ff (very loud).
Directions to change dynamics: crescendo (getting louder), decrescendo of diminuendo (growing softer), sforzando (forcing; an accent on a single note)
Tempo and dynamics as elements of musical expression
The composer adds markings for tempo to help shape the expressive content of a work. But at the ends the ones who have a final say in choosing the tempo that best delivers the message of the music, are the performers.
Chapter 8
Voices and musical instrument families
Musical timbre
Four musical properties: pitch, duration, volume and timbre.
Timbre: is what makes the instruments sound different from one another. It in influenced by the size, shape, proportions of the instrument, the material and the manner in which the vibration is produced.
Instrument: a mechanism that generates musical vibrations and launches them in to the air. Each instrument has a limited melodic range and a dynamic range.
Register: the specific area in the range of an instrument or voice.
The voice as instrument
The human voice is the most natural of all musical instruments. Each person has a particular quality, character or range.
Designations for vocal ranges (from highest to lowest):
Vibrato: a throbbing effect.
The world of musical instruments
Classification of instruments based solely on the way their sound is generated.
Four basic categories:
Musical timbre
Four musical properties: pitch, duration, volume and timbre.
Timbre: is what makes the instruments sound different from one another. It in influenced by the size, shape, proportions of the instrument, the material and the manner in which the vibration is produced.
Instrument: a mechanism that generates musical vibrations and launches them in to the air. Each instrument has a limited melodic range and a dynamic range.
Register: the specific area in the range of an instrument or voice.
The voice as instrument
The human voice is the most natural of all musical instruments. Each person has a particular quality, character or range.
Designations for vocal ranges (from highest to lowest):
- female: soprano, mezzo-soprano and alto (or contralto).
- Male:
tenor, baritone and bass.
Vibrato: a throbbing effect.
The world of musical instruments
Classification of instruments based solely on the way their sound is generated.
Four basic categories:
- Aerophones: produce sounds by using air (flutes, whistles, accordions, bagpipes, horns, etcetera; wind instruments)
- Chordophones: instruments that produce sound from a vibrating string stretched between two points. These are played by bowing, plucking or striking the strings. (violins, harp, guitar, sitar).
- Idiophones: produce sound from the substance of the instrument itself. They can be struck, shaken, scraped or rubbed. (bells, xylophones, rattles, cymbals)
- Membranophones: drum-type instruments that are sounded from tightly stretched membranes. These instruments can be struck, plucked, rubbed or even sung into.
Chapter 9
Western musical instruments
The instruments in the western world are categorized into four familiar groups: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Although there are also some that don't fit into any of these categories (piano).
String instruments
String instruments include two types of instruments: bowed and plucked.
1. Bowed: all instruments here have four strings (sometimes five) that are set vibrating by drawing a bow across them. There are four principal members: violin, viola, violoncello and double brass. These instruments are the core of the orchestra.
All of these instruments can produce many special effects: legato (smoothly connecting the notes), staccato (short and detached notes), pizzicato (plucked), vibrato (throbbing), glissando (sounding all pitches in one sound), tremolo (rapid repetition of a tone) and trill (rapid alternation between a tone and the one adjacent to it).
These instruments can also play several tones simultaneously and thereby, produce a harmony: double stopping, triple or quadruple stopping, mute (muffle the sound) and harmonics.
2. Plucked: the harp and the guitar
Woodwind instruments
Produce sounds with a column of air vibrating within a pipe that has fingerholes along its length. Although they are called woodwinds, they are not necessarily made out of wood.
Brass instruments
All of these instruments have cup-shaped mouthpieces attached to a length of metal tubing that flares at the end into a bell. The vibrating is done by the lips.
Percussion instruments:
Are used to accentuate the rhythm, generate excitement at the climaxes and inject splashes of colour. These are divided into two groups: those capable of producing definite pitches and those that produce an indefinite pitch.
1. Definite pitch:
2. Indefinite pitch:
Keyboard instruments
The instruments in the western world are categorized into four familiar groups: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Although there are also some that don't fit into any of these categories (piano).
String instruments
String instruments include two types of instruments: bowed and plucked.
1. Bowed: all instruments here have four strings (sometimes five) that are set vibrating by drawing a bow across them. There are four principal members: violin, viola, violoncello and double brass. These instruments are the core of the orchestra.
- Violin: 1600-1750. It has both a dramatic effect, and subtle nuances from soft to loud. It has a wide range. It is the smallest of all of these.
- Viola: larger than the violin. It has a husky tone in the lower register, somber, penetrating in the high. It usually reinforces another part.
- Cello (violoncello): have a lower range than the viola and it has a darker resonance.
- Doublebass:
(contrabass): it is the lowest of all string instruments in the orchestra. It
has a deep tone.
All of these instruments can produce many special effects: legato (smoothly connecting the notes), staccato (short and detached notes), pizzicato (plucked), vibrato (throbbing), glissando (sounding all pitches in one sound), tremolo (rapid repetition of a tone) and trill (rapid alternation between a tone and the one adjacent to it).
These instruments can also play several tones simultaneously and thereby, produce a harmony: double stopping, triple or quadruple stopping, mute (muffle the sound) and harmonics.
2. Plucked: the harp and the guitar
- Harp: one of the oldest musical instuments. It produces an ethereal tone, by tones that sounds one after the other.
- Guitar:
acoustic (made of wood) or electric (electronically amplified). Also related are
the banjo and the mandolin.
Woodwind instruments
Produce sounds with a column of air vibrating within a pipe that has fingerholes along its length. Although they are called woodwinds, they are not necessarily made out of wood.
- Flute: it is frequently used as a melody instrument. It has a cool and velvety tone in the low register, and brilliant in the upper part of its range.
- Piccolo: the highest pitched instrument in the orchestra.
- Oboe: made of wood. Its timbre is associated with pastoral effects and nostalgic moods. It usually sounds the tuning note for the other instruments.
- English horn: is an alto oboe.it has a soft, expressive timbre.
- Clarinet: it has a smooth, liquid tone. It has wide range and volume. An easy command of rapid scales, trills and repeated tones.
- Bass clarinet: an octave higher than the clarinet. It has a dark tone and a dynamic range.
- Bassoon: it is a hollow sounding staccato and has wide leaps. Weighty in the lone register and intense in the upper.
- Contrabassoon: the lowest tone of woodwinds. It usually supplies the foundation for the harmony.
- Saxophone:
it combines the features of several of the other instruments.
Brass instruments
All of these instruments have cup-shaped mouthpieces attached to a length of metal tubing that flares at the end into a bell. The vibrating is done by the lips.
- Emboucher: the entire oral mechanism of lips, lower facial muscles and jaw.
- Trumpet: the highest pitch of the brass family. It has a clear timbre.
- French horn: it has a mellow resonance in soft passages and sonorous in the loud ones.
- Trombone: full and rich sound in the tenor range.
- Tuba: it furnishes the foundation of the harmony, adding depth to the orchestral tone. It has a dark resonance.
- Other brass
instruments are the cornet, the bugle, the fluegelhorn, eyphonuim, sousaphone.
Percussion instruments:
Are used to accentuate the rhythm, generate excitement at the climaxes and inject splashes of colour. These are divided into two groups: those capable of producing definite pitches and those that produce an indefinite pitch.
1. Definite pitch:
- Timpani or kettledrum: generally played in sets of two or four. It has a pedal mechanism and is played with two padded sticks. It has a dynamic range.
- Xylophone: tuned blocks of wood set up as a keyboard and it is struck with mallets with hard heads. Included in the xylophone family is the marimba and vibraphone.
- Glockenspiel:
horizontal tuned steel bars of various sizes, that when struck produce a
bright, metallic, bell-like sound.
Included in this family is the celesta and the chimes or tubular bells.
2. Indefinite pitch:
- Wooden: These include the snare drum, the tenor drum, the bass drum, the tom-tom, the tambourine and the castanets.
- Metal: triangle, cymbals, gong, tam-tam.
Keyboard instruments
- Piano: has a wide dynamic range and a capacity for nuance. It also has the capacity for brilliant scales, arpeggios, trills, rapid passages and octaves and chords. From lowest to highest pitch, it contains more than seven octaves.
- Organ: it's a wind instrument with keyboards.
- Harpsichord: produced by quills that pluck metal strings.
Chapter 10
Musical Ensembles
Musical ensembles can be heterogeneous or homogeneous.
Choral groups
Instrumental chamber ensembles
The orchestra
Concert, jazz and rock bands.
Role of the conductor
Large ensembles generally need a conductor, who is the group leader. The conductors role is to beat time in metric patterns to keep the tempo. For this they use a baton (stick). They also interpret the music; they decide the tempo and the dynamics.
Musical ensembles can be heterogeneous or homogeneous.
Choral groups
- Chorus: a fairly large body of singers who perform together.
- Choir: is a smaller group of singers, often connected with a church or sacred music.
- A cappella: choral music performed without an accompaniment.
- Other
specialized vocal examples are: madrigal
choir and chamber choir.
Instrumental chamber ensembles
- Chamber music: is an ensemble for a group of two to about a dozen players, with only one player to a part.
- String quartet: made up of two violins, viola and cello.
- Other
combinations: duo sonata, piano trio, quarter, quintet, string quintet, sextet,
septet, octet, woodwind quintet and brass quintet.
The orchestra
- Symphony orchestra: an ensemble of strings coupled with an assortment of woodwinds, brass and percussion instruments.
Concert, jazz and rock bands.
- Concert band: it has about eighty players. It is an established institution in most schools and colleges.
- Marching band: commonly entertains at sport events and parades.
- Jazz bands: depend on the particular music being played, but are made up by saxophones, brass section and a rhythm section of percussion, double pass, piano and electric guitar.
- Rock bands:
amplified guitars, percussion and synthesizers.
Role of the conductor
Large ensembles generally need a conductor, who is the group leader. The conductors role is to beat time in metric patterns to keep the tempo. For this they use a baton (stick). They also interpret the music; they decide the tempo and the dynamics.
Chapter 11
Style and function of music in society
Music serves different functions in different societies.
Genre: a general term that suggests something of the overall character of the work as well as its function.
Symphony: genre designation for standard format.
Medium: the specific group that performs a piece.
Oral transmission: the preservation of music without the aid of written notation. Usually transmitted by example or by imitation, and is performed by memory.
The concept of style
Style: the characteristic way an artwork is presented. It may indicate the creators personal manner of expression; the individualized treatment of the elements of music (pitch, timbre, and expression)
Musical styles in history
Each historical period has its own stylistic characteristics.
“The style of a period, then, is the total language of al its artists as they react to the artistic, political, economic, religious, and philosophical forces that shape their environment.”
Music serves different functions in different societies.
- Sacred music: religious function
- Secular music: outside a religious context.
Genre: a general term that suggests something of the overall character of the work as well as its function.
Symphony: genre designation for standard format.
Medium: the specific group that performs a piece.
Oral transmission: the preservation of music without the aid of written notation. Usually transmitted by example or by imitation, and is performed by memory.
The concept of style
Style: the characteristic way an artwork is presented. It may indicate the creators personal manner of expression; the individualized treatment of the elements of music (pitch, timbre, and expression)
Musical styles in history
Each historical period has its own stylistic characteristics.
“The style of a period, then, is the total language of al its artists as they react to the artistic, political, economic, religious, and philosophical forces that shape their environment.”
Part 2: Medieval and Renaissance Music
Prelude 2
The Culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Middle ages: started 476 c.e.
Dark ages: 500 to 1000
All power in this time came from the king and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Medieval Church
The music in the Middle Ages was religious.
Late Medieval ages: Universities flourished, and cities emerged as centers of art and culture. The merchant class rose. Languages were shaped. Crusades.
“The Middle Ages, in brief, encompassed a period of enormous turmoil and change. Out of this turbulent age emerged a profile of what we know today as Western civilization.”
The Arts in the Renaissance
“The Renaissance marks the passing of a European society from a predominantly religious orientation to a more secular one, and from an age of unquestioning faith and mysticism to one of reason and scientific inquiry.”
They started seeing the world rationally. The discovery of America. Invention of printing. Realism in art.
Musicians in Medieval and Renaissance Society
Musicians were supported by: the church, city, state, royal and aristocratic courts.
Printed music books became available and affordable: musical literacy spread.
Middle ages: started 476 c.e.
Dark ages: 500 to 1000
All power in this time came from the king and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Medieval Church
The music in the Middle Ages was religious.
Late Medieval ages: Universities flourished, and cities emerged as centers of art and culture. The merchant class rose. Languages were shaped. Crusades.
“The Middle Ages, in brief, encompassed a period of enormous turmoil and change. Out of this turbulent age emerged a profile of what we know today as Western civilization.”
The Arts in the Renaissance
“The Renaissance marks the passing of a European society from a predominantly religious orientation to a more secular one, and from an age of unquestioning faith and mysticism to one of reason and scientific inquiry.”
They started seeing the world rationally. The discovery of America. Invention of printing. Realism in art.
Musicians in Medieval and Renaissance Society
Musicians were supported by: the church, city, state, royal and aristocratic courts.
Printed music books became available and affordable: musical literacy spread.
Chapter 12
Sacred Music in the Middle Ages
Liturgy: the set of order of church services and the structure of each service.
Gregorian chant: a single-line melody, monophonic in texture and lacking harmony and counterpoint. It is the central celebration of mass.
Classes of chant melodies:
The mass
Categories of the services of the Roman Catholic Church:
The masses collection of prayers:
The masses are mostly in Latin, except for the Kyrie which is in Greek.
Life in the Medieval Cloister
Cloister: a place for religious seclusion.
Many people entered the cloisters to withdraw themselves from society and to devote themselves to preaching, prayer, scholarship or charity.
Hildegard of Bingen: a woman who lived in a cloister, who wrote and preserved knowledge from earlier times. She is now popular for her music.
The Rise of Polyphony
Polyphony: the combination of two or more simultaneous melodic lines. (it is the most important development in the history of Western music. It helped develop notation and meter.
Organum: the earliest polyphonic music. It adds a second voice to the Gregorian melody.
Oblique: one voice is static and the other is moving.
Contrary motion: voices move in opposite directions.
Rythmic mode: a fixed pattern of long and short notes that is repeated of varied.
Motet: writing new texts for the previously textless upper voices of the organum.
Liturgy: the set of order of church services and the structure of each service.
Gregorian chant: a single-line melody, monophonic in texture and lacking harmony and counterpoint. It is the central celebration of mass.
Classes of chant melodies:
- Syllabic: one note sung to each syllable of text
- Neumatic: small groups (5 or 6) notes sung to a syllable.
- Melismatic: long groups of notes set to a single syllable.
- Neumes: ascending and descending symbols.
- Modes: scale patterns
- Modal: various melodic and harmonic types.
The mass
Categories of the services of the Roman Catholic Church:
- Offices: daily services at various hours of the day celebrated in monasteries and convents
- Mass: the reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ.
The masses collection of prayers:
- Proper: the texts that vary from day to day depending on the date.
- Ordinary: the texts that remain the same through every mass.
The masses are mostly in Latin, except for the Kyrie which is in Greek.
Life in the Medieval Cloister
Cloister: a place for religious seclusion.
Many people entered the cloisters to withdraw themselves from society and to devote themselves to preaching, prayer, scholarship or charity.
Hildegard of Bingen: a woman who lived in a cloister, who wrote and preserved knowledge from earlier times. She is now popular for her music.
The Rise of Polyphony
Polyphony: the combination of two or more simultaneous melodic lines. (it is the most important development in the history of Western music. It helped develop notation and meter.
Organum: the earliest polyphonic music. It adds a second voice to the Gregorian melody.
Oblique: one voice is static and the other is moving.
Contrary motion: voices move in opposite directions.
Rythmic mode: a fixed pattern of long and short notes that is repeated of varied.
Motet: writing new texts for the previously textless upper voices of the organum.
Chapter 14
Renaissance Sacred Music
The church music of the Renaissance was normally multivoiced and based on preexisting music (Cantus firmus).
A capella: vocal work without instrumental accompaniment. mark of the sixteenth century music.
If there was polyphony in the sixteenth century it was based on imitation.
Motets were also popular. Written for three, four or more voices, which were based on a chant.
Motet: a scared form with a single latin text
The Renaissance Mass
Composers of the Renaissance concentrated of the ordinary part of mass. It had five movements: the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Angus Dei.
The Reformation and Counter-reformation
Martin Luther’s protestant movement.
Luther sought to draw people to Protestantism by singing in vernacular.
Vernacular: the language of the people.
The church then did the Counter-Reformation, in which they also turned their music more accessible.
The church music of the Renaissance was normally multivoiced and based on preexisting music (Cantus firmus).
A capella: vocal work without instrumental accompaniment. mark of the sixteenth century music.
If there was polyphony in the sixteenth century it was based on imitation.
Motets were also popular. Written for three, four or more voices, which were based on a chant.
Motet: a scared form with a single latin text
The Renaissance Mass
Composers of the Renaissance concentrated of the ordinary part of mass. It had five movements: the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Angus Dei.
- Kyrie: prayer for mercy in Greek. It has an a-b-a form that consists of 9 invocations.
- Gloria: a joyful hymn of praise
- Credo: confession of faith
- Sanctus: song of praise
- Angus Dei: a different text for its conclusion. Sung three times.
The Reformation and Counter-reformation
Martin Luther’s protestant movement.
Luther sought to draw people to Protestantism by singing in vernacular.
Vernacular: the language of the people.
The church then did the Counter-Reformation, in which they also turned their music more accessible.
Chapter 15
Renaissance Secular Music
Music in Court and City Life
Professionals entertained noble guests at courts and civic activities.
Secular music included both vocal works, instrumental works and works in which singers were supported by instruments.
Music became part for the upbringing of a young girl.
Uniting poetry and music gave rise to two important secular genres: Chanson and madrigal .
Word painting: making the music reflect the meaning of the words.
The Italian Madrigal
Madrigal: aristocratic form of poetry and music.
Text of the madrigal was a short poem of lyric or reflective character.
The English Madrigal
English madrigals were adopted forms of the Italian madrigals, the only difference is that they were translated.
Instrumental Dance Music
Books of dance music began appearing. Most of these were works taken from the madrigals and chansons and adopted for instruments.
Through this dance music, the composers began exploring purely instrumental forms.
From the Renaissance to the Baroque
The desire to create new ways to express their music, composers created new genres. In these genres we find the opera, cantata and oratorio.
Music in Court and City Life
Professionals entertained noble guests at courts and civic activities.
Secular music included both vocal works, instrumental works and works in which singers were supported by instruments.
Music became part for the upbringing of a young girl.
Uniting poetry and music gave rise to two important secular genres: Chanson and madrigal .
Word painting: making the music reflect the meaning of the words.
The Italian Madrigal
Madrigal: aristocratic form of poetry and music.
Text of the madrigal was a short poem of lyric or reflective character.
The English Madrigal
English madrigals were adopted forms of the Italian madrigals, the only difference is that they were translated.
Instrumental Dance Music
Books of dance music began appearing. Most of these were works taken from the madrigals and chansons and adopted for instruments.
Through this dance music, the composers began exploring purely instrumental forms.
From the Renaissance to the Baroque
The desire to create new ways to express their music, composers created new genres. In these genres we find the opera, cantata and oratorio.
Part 3: The Baroque Era
Prelude 3
The Baroque Spirit
The baroque times were between the year 1600 and 1750. It represents a period of change and adventure.
Baroque: means exaggerated, abnormal or bizarre.
In this time art and culture served the ruler.
The baroque was an age of discovery: galileo and Copernicus in physics in astronomy, Descartes in mathematics and Spinoza in philosophy. Harvey in the circulation of the blood and Isaac Newton with the theory of gravity.
Main Currents in Baroque Music
The baroque music changed from from polyphony (several independent parts) to homophony (a single melody stands out)
Monody: a solo song with instrumental accompaniment. A melody that moves freely over a foundation of simple chords.
New Harmonic Structures
A new kind of notation surged.
Figured bass: numeral above or below the bass note, indicating the chord required.
Basso continuo: two instrumentalists (a bass line and a chordal instrument) and one voice.
Major-minor key tonality.
Equal temperament: the establishment of a new tuning system that allowed instruments to play in any key.
Baroque Musical Style
The monadic style gave way to a vigorous rhythm based on a regular accent carried by a moving bass part.
Baroque musicians used dissonant chords more freely for emotional intensity and color.
The Doctrine of the Affections
The baroque inherited text painting.
Doctrine of the affections: building an entire piece of movement built on a single affection.
The opening musical idea established the mood of the piece.
The Rise of the Virtuoso Musician
As the instruments improved, the performers responded with more virtuosic playing, which in turn, the composers wrote more demanding works.
Castrato: a male singer who was castrated during boy hood in order to preserve the soprano or alto register of his voice for the rest of his life.
The baroque times were between the year 1600 and 1750. It represents a period of change and adventure.
Baroque: means exaggerated, abnormal or bizarre.
In this time art and culture served the ruler.
The baroque was an age of discovery: galileo and Copernicus in physics in astronomy, Descartes in mathematics and Spinoza in philosophy. Harvey in the circulation of the blood and Isaac Newton with the theory of gravity.
Main Currents in Baroque Music
The baroque music changed from from polyphony (several independent parts) to homophony (a single melody stands out)
Monody: a solo song with instrumental accompaniment. A melody that moves freely over a foundation of simple chords.
New Harmonic Structures
A new kind of notation surged.
Figured bass: numeral above or below the bass note, indicating the chord required.
Basso continuo: two instrumentalists (a bass line and a chordal instrument) and one voice.
Major-minor key tonality.
Equal temperament: the establishment of a new tuning system that allowed instruments to play in any key.
Baroque Musical Style
The monadic style gave way to a vigorous rhythm based on a regular accent carried by a moving bass part.
Baroque musicians used dissonant chords more freely for emotional intensity and color.
The Doctrine of the Affections
The baroque inherited text painting.
Doctrine of the affections: building an entire piece of movement built on a single affection.
The opening musical idea established the mood of the piece.
The Rise of the Virtuoso Musician
As the instruments improved, the performers responded with more virtuosic playing, which in turn, the composers wrote more demanding works.
Castrato: a male singer who was castrated during boy hood in order to preserve the soprano or alto register of his voice for the rest of his life.
Chapter 16
The Baroque Opera and its Components
Opera: a large-scale drama that is sung.
Recitative: a musical declamation or speech in which the plot and action are advanced. It has two styles, secco (accompanied by instruments) and accompagnato (accompanied by the orchestra)
Aria: a song of highly emotional nature.
Overture: instrumental number heard at the beginning of most operas.
Sinfonias: interludes
Librettist: writes the text of the opera.
Libretto: text or script of the opera.
Early opera in Italy
Opera started in palaces with plots derived from mythology. Later on opera became a form of entertainment, in which history or love stories were shown.
Opera in England
Masque: a type of entertainment that combines vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance.
Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas
Based on Virgil’s Aeneid.
The last act is in the style of a hornpipe (a dance form associated with sailors).
Scotch snap: the reverse dotted figure that characterizes hornpipes.
Ground bass: a repeated phrase that descends along the chromatic scale.
Barbara Strozzi and the Baroque Aria
She was a composer and a singer.
Opera: a large-scale drama that is sung.
Recitative: a musical declamation or speech in which the plot and action are advanced. It has two styles, secco (accompanied by instruments) and accompagnato (accompanied by the orchestra)
Aria: a song of highly emotional nature.
Overture: instrumental number heard at the beginning of most operas.
Sinfonias: interludes
Librettist: writes the text of the opera.
Libretto: text or script of the opera.
Early opera in Italy
Opera started in palaces with plots derived from mythology. Later on opera became a form of entertainment, in which history or love stories were shown.
Opera in England
Masque: a type of entertainment that combines vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance.
Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas
Based on Virgil’s Aeneid.
The last act is in the style of a hornpipe (a dance form associated with sailors).
Scotch snap: the reverse dotted figure that characterizes hornpipes.
Ground bass: a repeated phrase that descends along the chromatic scale.
Barbara Strozzi and the Baroque Aria
She was a composer and a singer.
Chapter 17
The Baroque Cantata and Oratorio
As with the opera. Two large scale genres of religious music were also born:
Bach and the Church Cantata
Bach belonged to the Lutheran tradition and some of his works were cantatas which related to the gospel’s reading of the day.
Chorale: a hymn tune specifically associated with German Protestantism. These were written in four part harmony and were sung by the choir.
Bach’s Cantata Wachet Auf (Sleepers, Awake)
Written in 1731
Bar form: the standard three part structure in a chorale (A-A-B)
Ritornello: an energetic instrumental idea that unifies the movement, recurring between the vocal statements of the chorale.
Bach was the master of cantatas.
Handel and the Oratorio
Oratorio descended from the religion play-with-music of the Counter-Reformation. It is usually based on a biblical story and presented in churches or halls, without scenery, costumes or acting.
Handel was the master of oratorios.
Messiah
It is a compilation of biblical verses from the old and new testament set in three parts. Part one is the prophecy of the coming of Christ, the second is his suffering and death and the third the redemption of the world.
As with the opera. Two large scale genres of religious music were also born:
- Cantata – served in the Lutheran Church
- Oratorio – for performances in church or in a music hall
Bach and the Church Cantata
Bach belonged to the Lutheran tradition and some of his works were cantatas which related to the gospel’s reading of the day.
Chorale: a hymn tune specifically associated with German Protestantism. These were written in four part harmony and were sung by the choir.
Bach’s Cantata Wachet Auf (Sleepers, Awake)
Written in 1731
Bar form: the standard three part structure in a chorale (A-A-B)
Ritornello: an energetic instrumental idea that unifies the movement, recurring between the vocal statements of the chorale.
Bach was the master of cantatas.
Handel and the Oratorio
Oratorio descended from the religion play-with-music of the Counter-Reformation. It is usually based on a biblical story and presented in churches or halls, without scenery, costumes or acting.
Handel was the master of oratorios.
Messiah
It is a compilation of biblical verses from the old and new testament set in three parts. Part one is the prophecy of the coming of Christ, the second is his suffering and death and the third the redemption of the world.
Chapter 18
Baroque Instruments and the Suite
The Rise of Instrumental Music
During the Baroque times instrumental music became as important as vocal music. New instruments were developed.
Baroque composers began choosing instruments according to their timbre and starting writing works for particular instruments.
Baroque Instruments
String instruments saw dramatic improvements, especially the violin.
In the late baroque, composers started using more woodwind instruments such as the flute, recorder and oboe, all made out of wood.
The trumpet also developed from a military use to an orchestral use.
The Baroque Suite
Suite: presented a group of short dances performed by a diverse array of instruments. The suite was either in binary structure A-A-B-B or in ternary form A-B-S. both two sections of equal length, rounded off by a cadence.
The suite was taken internationally:
Handel and the Orchestral Suite
Handels two orchestral suites are Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
The Rise of Instrumental Music
During the Baroque times instrumental music became as important as vocal music. New instruments were developed.
Baroque composers began choosing instruments according to their timbre and starting writing works for particular instruments.
Baroque Instruments
String instruments saw dramatic improvements, especially the violin.
In the late baroque, composers started using more woodwind instruments such as the flute, recorder and oboe, all made out of wood.
The trumpet also developed from a military use to an orchestral use.
The Baroque Suite
Suite: presented a group of short dances performed by a diverse array of instruments. The suite was either in binary structure A-A-B-B or in ternary form A-B-S. both two sections of equal length, rounded off by a cadence.
The suite was taken internationally:
- In Germany: Allemande, with quadruple meter and moderate tempo.
- In France: Courante, with triple meter and moderate tempo.
- In Spain: Sarabande, with triple meter.
- In England: Jig (Gigue) with 6/8 or 6/4.
Handel and the Orchestral Suite
Handels two orchestral suites are Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks.
Chapter 19
The Baroque Concerto
One of the basic elements of the Baroque was contrast and unity.
Two types of concerti:
Antonio Vivaldi and the Solo Concerto
He had a novel use of rapid scale passages, extended arpeggios and contrasting registers.
The Four seasons
The four seasons is a group of violin concertos.
One of the basic elements of the Baroque was contrast and unity.
Two types of concerti:
- Solo concerto: a concerto for solo instrument and an accompanying instrumental group. Most used instrument was the violin, which consisted of three movements (allegro – adagio – allegro)
- Concerto grosso: was based on the opposition between a small group of instruments (concertino) and a larger group (tutti or ripieno).
Antonio Vivaldi and the Solo Concerto
He had a novel use of rapid scale passages, extended arpeggios and contrasting registers.
The Four seasons
The four seasons is a group of violin concertos.
Chapter 20
Other Baroque Instrumental Music
Baroque Keyboard Instruments
Keyboard instruments had a central role in chamber music and an equal role in small ensembles. These provided the continuo (continuous bass)
Three most important keyboard instruments:
Keyboard Forms:
Two categories: those built on harmony and those based on forms of counterpoint.
Harmony: passacaglia – structured on a repeating bass line – and cachonne – built on a succession of harmonic progressions.
Other forms based on improvisation: prelude – based on the continuous expansion of a melodic of rhythmic figure – and the toccata.
The Fugue and Its Devices
Fugue: contrapuntal composition in which a single theme pervades the entire fabric, entering first in one form and then in another.
Subject: main theme of the fugue. It is stated alone at the beginning in one of the voices. It is then imitated by another voice – the answer.
Exposition: first section of the fugue. When the theme has been presented in each voice.
Episodes: interludes that serve as areas of relaxation.
Augmentation: a melody presented in longer time values
Diminution: a melody presented in shorter time values.
Retrograde: pitches presented backwards.
Inversion: pitches turned upside down.
Stretto: overlapping statements of the subject.
Bach’s Keyboard Fugues
Bach is the master of fugues.
Baroque Keyboard Instruments
Keyboard instruments had a central role in chamber music and an equal role in small ensembles. These provided the continuo (continuous bass)
Three most important keyboard instruments:
- Organ: used in church and home. Had a transparent timbre.
- Harpsichord: difference – strings were plucked by quills and it could not sustain a long note.
- Clavichord
Keyboard Forms:
Two categories: those built on harmony and those based on forms of counterpoint.
Harmony: passacaglia – structured on a repeating bass line – and cachonne – built on a succession of harmonic progressions.
Other forms based on improvisation: prelude – based on the continuous expansion of a melodic of rhythmic figure – and the toccata.
The Fugue and Its Devices
Fugue: contrapuntal composition in which a single theme pervades the entire fabric, entering first in one form and then in another.
Subject: main theme of the fugue. It is stated alone at the beginning in one of the voices. It is then imitated by another voice – the answer.
Exposition: first section of the fugue. When the theme has been presented in each voice.
Episodes: interludes that serve as areas of relaxation.
Augmentation: a melody presented in longer time values
Diminution: a melody presented in shorter time values.
Retrograde: pitches presented backwards.
Inversion: pitches turned upside down.
Stretto: overlapping statements of the subject.
Bach’s Keyboard Fugues
Bach is the master of fugues.
Part 4: Eighteenth-Century Classicism
Prelude 4
Classicism in the Arts
Classicism and romanticism strive to express emotions within artistic forms. But Classicists seek order, reason and serenity. They are objective and try to view life rationally. They looked back at the ancient Greeks and Romans. Classicism takes blast in the last half of the eighteenth century and the early nineteenth.
The romantics seek strangeness, wonder and ecstasy. They view life according to their personal feelings.
Classicism in Music
It is characterized by the masters of the Viennese School – Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert.
These composers took of new challenges of musical experimentation and discovery.
Elements of the Classical Style
The music of the Viennese masters is known for their elegant, lyrical melodies.
Clarity is provided by repetition and frequent use of sequence. The works are mostly diatonic (built from the seven tones of the major-minor system) and homophonic (a melody with accompanying harmony).
The Patronage System
This system gave the musicians economic security and provided a social framework in which they could function.
Classicism and romanticism strive to express emotions within artistic forms. But Classicists seek order, reason and serenity. They are objective and try to view life rationally. They looked back at the ancient Greeks and Romans. Classicism takes blast in the last half of the eighteenth century and the early nineteenth.
The romantics seek strangeness, wonder and ecstasy. They view life according to their personal feelings.
Classicism in Music
It is characterized by the masters of the Viennese School – Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert.
These composers took of new challenges of musical experimentation and discovery.
Elements of the Classical Style
The music of the Viennese masters is known for their elegant, lyrical melodies.
Clarity is provided by repetition and frequent use of sequence. The works are mostly diatonic (built from the seven tones of the major-minor system) and homophonic (a melody with accompanying harmony).
The Patronage System
This system gave the musicians economic security and provided a social framework in which they could function.
Chapter 21
The Development of Classical Forms
“Thinking, whether in words or music, demands continuity. Every thought should flow from the one before and lead logically into the next, thereby creating steady progress towards a goal.”
Expanding Musical Ideas
Theme: musical idea that is used as a building block in the construction of a composition.
Thematic development: the expansion of a theme, achieved by varying its melodic outline, rhythm or harmony.
Motive: the smallest melodic or rhythmic unit.
Sequence: melody that is repeated at a higher or lower level.
Ostinato: a short, repeated musical pattern.
Classical Forms
Absolute music: no prescribed story or text to hold the music together. The story is the music itself.
Multimovement cycle: a structural procedure used from 175 through the romantic era. Consists in three of four movements.
The First Movement
The longest movement in the cycle, usually in a fast tempo, usually written in sonata-allegro form.
Sonata-allegro form: establishes a home key, then moves to another key, and finally returns to the home key. Themes are exposed in the first section, developed in the second and restated in the third.
Bridge: transitional passage that leads into a contrasting key.
Coda: an extension of the closing idea that leads us to the final cadence in the home key.
The Second Movement
Usually the slow movement of the cycle. It is characterized by lyrical, songful melodies. Usually an adante or adagio in A-B-A form.
Melodic variation: the solo player embellishes a popular tune with decorative flourishes.
Harmonic variation: chords that accompany the melody are replaced by others.
The Third movement
Usually a minuet and trio.
Minuet-trio-minuet: a symmetrical three-part structure in which each part in turn subdivide into binary form (a-a-b-b)
Scherzo: a quick-paced dance in triple meter with the same overall three-part structure.
The Fourth Movement
Usually a spirited form (sonata-allegro or rondo)
Rondo: recurrence of a musical idea.
“Thinking, whether in words or music, demands continuity. Every thought should flow from the one before and lead logically into the next, thereby creating steady progress towards a goal.”
Expanding Musical Ideas
Theme: musical idea that is used as a building block in the construction of a composition.
Thematic development: the expansion of a theme, achieved by varying its melodic outline, rhythm or harmony.
Motive: the smallest melodic or rhythmic unit.
Sequence: melody that is repeated at a higher or lower level.
Ostinato: a short, repeated musical pattern.
Classical Forms
Absolute music: no prescribed story or text to hold the music together. The story is the music itself.
Multimovement cycle: a structural procedure used from 175 through the romantic era. Consists in three of four movements.
The First Movement
The longest movement in the cycle, usually in a fast tempo, usually written in sonata-allegro form.
Sonata-allegro form: establishes a home key, then moves to another key, and finally returns to the home key. Themes are exposed in the first section, developed in the second and restated in the third.
Bridge: transitional passage that leads into a contrasting key.
Coda: an extension of the closing idea that leads us to the final cadence in the home key.
The Second Movement
Usually the slow movement of the cycle. It is characterized by lyrical, songful melodies. Usually an adante or adagio in A-B-A form.
Melodic variation: the solo player embellishes a popular tune with decorative flourishes.
Harmonic variation: chords that accompany the melody are replaced by others.
The Third movement
Usually a minuet and trio.
Minuet-trio-minuet: a symmetrical three-part structure in which each part in turn subdivide into binary form (a-a-b-b)
Scherzo: a quick-paced dance in triple meter with the same overall three-part structure.
The Fourth Movement
Usually a spirited form (sonata-allegro or rondo)
Rondo: recurrence of a musical idea.
Chapter 22
Classical Chamber Music
The classical era is renowned for its chamber music.
Chamber music: music for a small ensemble with one part per player.
Combinations of chamber music: string quartet (center part is two violins, a viola and a cello), duo sonata (violin and piano), piano trio (violin, cello and piano) and quintet (combination of string and wind instruments).
The String Quartet
It follows the multimovement cycle.
Composers used the string quartet to present their most private thoughts. Seen with Haydn, Mozarts and Beethoven.
Haydn’s Emperor Quartet
It became Austria’s national anthem until 1947.
Mozart and Chamber Music
Types of composition midway between chamber music and symphony:
Divertimento and serenade.
Eine Klein Nachtmusik
A serenade for strings. Its four movements are compact, intimate and beautifully proportioned.
The classical era is renowned for its chamber music.
Chamber music: music for a small ensemble with one part per player.
Combinations of chamber music: string quartet (center part is two violins, a viola and a cello), duo sonata (violin and piano), piano trio (violin, cello and piano) and quintet (combination of string and wind instruments).
The String Quartet
It follows the multimovement cycle.
Composers used the string quartet to present their most private thoughts. Seen with Haydn, Mozarts and Beethoven.
Haydn’s Emperor Quartet
It became Austria’s national anthem until 1947.
Mozart and Chamber Music
Types of composition midway between chamber music and symphony:
Divertimento and serenade.
Eine Klein Nachtmusik
A serenade for strings. Its four movements are compact, intimate and beautifully proportioned.
Chapter 23
The Classical Symphony
Historical Background
It became the most important type of absolute music.
It has its roots in the Italian opera overture, which was fast-slow-fast.
Rocket theme: the use of a quick, aggressively rhythmic theme rising from low to high.
Steamroller effect: the use of drawn-out crescendos.
The classical orchestra
The heart of the orchestra was the string family. Woodwinds provided assistance and color. Brass sustained the harmonies and provided body. Timpani sustained rhythmic life.
The Movements of a Symphony
1) First movement: allegro, based on sonata-allegro form (opposition of two keys)
3) Third movement: minuet and trio in triple meter.
4) Fourth movement: Allegro in rondo or sonata-allegro form.
Haydn and the Symphony
He established the four-movement structure of the symphony.
Haydn’s Symphony No.100
It is called the Military and was presented in 1794. It follows a multimovement pattern. He uses Turkish military instruments as percussion.
Historical Background
It became the most important type of absolute music.
It has its roots in the Italian opera overture, which was fast-slow-fast.
Rocket theme: the use of a quick, aggressively rhythmic theme rising from low to high.
Steamroller effect: the use of drawn-out crescendos.
The classical orchestra
The heart of the orchestra was the string family. Woodwinds provided assistance and color. Brass sustained the harmonies and provided body. Timpani sustained rhythmic life.
The Movements of a Symphony
1) First movement: allegro, based on sonata-allegro form (opposition of two keys)
- Monothematic: when the sonata-allegro form is based on a single theme.
3) Third movement: minuet and trio in triple meter.
4) Fourth movement: Allegro in rondo or sonata-allegro form.
Haydn and the Symphony
He established the four-movement structure of the symphony.
Haydn’s Symphony No.100
It is called the Military and was presented in 1794. It follows a multimovement pattern. He uses Turkish military instruments as percussion.
Chapter 24
The Classical Concerto
The Movements of the Concerto
The classical era based its concerto in a solo instrument and an orchestra; usually this solo instrument was the piano. The concerto follows three movements; fast-slow-fast.
Cadenza: a solo passage in the manner of improvisation that interrupts the movement towards the end. (this is where the solo instrument begins)
Famous Women Virtuosos
Three women, who were Mozart’s students, stand out as keyboard player:
The Movements of the Concerto
The classical era based its concerto in a solo instrument and an orchestra; usually this solo instrument was the piano. The concerto follows three movements; fast-slow-fast.
Cadenza: a solo passage in the manner of improvisation that interrupts the movement towards the end. (this is where the solo instrument begins)
- First movement: ritornello or sonata-allegro. Usually opens with a orchestral exposition in tonic key, then a second one for the solo instruments and the orchestra (a dialogue with the orchestra), changes to major key. In the recapitulation in changes back to the tonic key with both the instrument and the orchestra. This is continued with a solo cadenza.
- Second movement: usually andante, adagio or largo. It has songlike melodies.
- Third movement: allegro molto or presto. It also has a cadenza which brings the piece to an end.
Famous Women Virtuosos
Three women, who were Mozart’s students, stand out as keyboard player:
- Anna Mozart (sister)
- Maria Theresia von Paradis (blind musician)
- Barbara von Ployer (student of mozart’s)
Chapter 25
The Sonata in the Classical Era
The Movements of the Sonata
Sonata: instrumental work for one or two instruments, consisting of three or four movements (with the multimovement cycle).
Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata
Called a fantasy sonata with the three-movement format.
The Movements of the Sonata
Sonata: instrumental work for one or two instruments, consisting of three or four movements (with the multimovement cycle).
Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata
Called a fantasy sonata with the three-movement format.
Chapter 26
Classical Choral Music and Opera
Mass, Requiem and Oratorio
Mass: musical setting of the most solemn service of the Roman Catholic Church.
Requiem: musical setting of the Mass for the Dead.
Oratorio: focused on a biblical story.
Classical Opera
Mozart’s Opera Don Giovanni
It combines the elements of opera buffa and opera seria.
It tells the story of Don Giovanni, who was a ladies man.
Mass, Requiem and Oratorio
Mass: musical setting of the most solemn service of the Roman Catholic Church.
Requiem: musical setting of the Mass for the Dead.
Oratorio: focused on a biblical story.
Classical Opera
- Opera seria: serious or tragic opera.
- Opera buffa: a more comic and lighter opera. (known as ballad, dialogue, singspiel or opera comic). This opera was generally in the language of the audience.
Mozart’s Opera Don Giovanni
It combines the elements of opera buffa and opera seria.
It tells the story of Don Giovanni, who was a ladies man.