Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12 MUSIC HISTORY 1

The 19th Century was the GOLDEN AGE OF OPERA
2/3rd’s of opera produced today comes from 1820-1900
Traditionally, ITALY is the home of opera, but by the Romantic period, different countries began to emerge with operas in their own language
Before 1820, the ONLY German-language opera heard outside of Germany was Mozart’s Magic Flute
The SINGSPIEL was Germany’s version of opera: light-hearted, funny, with spoken dialogue (a la OPERA BUFFA)

Both Mozart (The Magic Flute) and Beethoven (Fidelio) tried to make this genre more serious, but it wasn’t until the Romantic Period, when subjects like HORROR and the SUPERNATURAL entered these operas and the German style truly emerged

RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883)
Realized GERMAN opera
Important and controversial figure
Was a composer, politician, philosopher, propagandist, and artist
His works are ADORED and HATED

Born in Leipzig, Germany
His first passion was poetry, followed by the theater
As a teen, he immersed himself in Beethoven’s music, making piano transcriptions of Beethoven’s orchestral works
In 1842, his opera RIENZI was successful in Dresden, Germany
Soon after moving to Switzerland (to avoid debts) he began to imagine something new:

MUSIC DRAMAS

Musical work for stage where ALL of the arts function together

The most popular of all of his pieces is a Music Drama called:

Der Ring des Nibelungen

sometimes called

The Ring or The Ring Cycle

The Ring is a set of FOUR operas intended to be performed on consecutive nights
Wagner took the plot from German mythology: a land of gods, nymphs, giants, dragons, etc.
The themes in The Ring would influence philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and be used by Adolf Hitler to brainwash the German people in his rise to power

From the second opera: “Ride Of the Valkyries” 05-die-walkure_ride-of-the-valkyries.mp3

In this work, Wagner created a technique called LEITMOTIF
Leitmotif is a brief, distinctive unit of music designed to represent a character, object, or idea
Similar to Berlioz’s IDEE FIXEE, but much shorter
Using Leitmotif, the audience can learn what a character might be thinking without hearing a word
Some contemporary examples of LEITMOTIF would include Harry Potter’s theme, the Imperial March from Star Wars, Superman’s theme, or 007’s theme.

The PIANO evolved into the instrument we know in the 1840’s
POPULAR instrument: no middle class home was without one
No education was complete without piano lessons
Influenced by the incredible VOGUE of the instrument, many virtuosos and great composers came from this time

FREDERIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)
“poet of the piano”
French father and Polish mother
Trained in Poland at the Warsaw Conservatory
Moved to Paris in 1831
Played musicales (“musical evenings”) in the homes of the aristocracy

Chopin popularized the MAZURKA
The MAZURKA is a fast dance in triple meter (in 3), with an emphasis on “2”
mazurka-no-5-in-b-flat-major.mp3

Chopin is celebrated as national treasure in Poland – this is an actual cast of his hand on display there
He wrote a huge catalog of piano music: a dance, 3 sonatas, 2 concertos, 21 nocturnes, 24 preludes, and 24 etudes
Etude – a short, 1-mvmnt piece designed to improve ONE aspect of a performer’s technique

FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886)
1811-1886
Born in Hungary
In 1822, Liszt’s parents moved to Vienna so that he could study with the best teachers
In 1831, violinist Niccolo Paganini changed Liszt’s life

Paganini was, arguably, the greatest musical virtuoso ever seen
Liszt strove to bring that virtuosity to the piano

Liszt taught himself techniques that had never before been used on the piano: tremolos, leaps, double-trills, two-handed octaves, etc.
In 1833, he stopped touring for 4 years to become a husband and father
He began to seriously play again and in 1839, he toured again, sparking what is known as. . . .

LISZTOMANIA

Crowds were crazed over public performances by Liszt
His concerts were in high demand, and Liszt was a genuine celebrity
Liszt also set the stage for the modern piano recital
He set the piano parallel to the stage, he played from memory, and featured only himself on piano (with no other performers)

Liebestraum No. 3 (1850) 03-liebestraume_3_-notturno.mp3

Means “Love Dream”
Liszt set 3 romantic poems to music and called them Liebestraum
In 1850, he arranged each piece for solo piano, calling each one a Nocturne (“night piece”)

A child of the Romantic age: tried suicide twice, ran around Italy, and lived a Bohemian existence as a young man
Born into a wealthy Jewish family in Hamburg, Germany
His father was a banker, and his grandfather a noted philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn

Young Felix was raised in an intellectual environment–he studied languages, literature, philosophy, painting, dancing, and riding
In 1816, the Mendelssohn children were baptized CHRISTIANS by their parents
Young Mendelssohn showed musical talent at a young age and also studied piano, being compared to a young Mozart

Young Mendelssohn was privileged enough to have a small orchestra at his disposal to try his compositions
At age 16, he composed an octet for strings
The next year, 1826, he composed The Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, his most famous work:

05-a-midsummer-nights-dream_overture.mp3

The Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an independent Concert Overture to SHAKEPEARE’s play of the same title–written in Sonata-Allegro form
Later, Mendelssohn was commissioned to write Incidental Music for a production of this play
Among these pieces of Incidental Music is the famous Wedding March
wedding-march-mendelssohn.mp3

Privileged, Mendelssohn travelled Europe from 1829-1835, meeting famous figures such as Berlioz, Liszt, and Chopin
His travelling years ended in 1835 when he was appointed musical director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, Germany

The Gewndhaus Orchestra (“clothiers’ house orchestra”) was founded in 1781 by the merchants of Leipzig
The orchestra played concerts in their guild (or union) hall
Mendelssohn stayed as their director until 1847, when he died of a stroke at age 38

During his time in Leipzig, Mendelssohn changed the PURPOSE of the orchestra
He established the modern notion that the symphony exists not only to play NEW music, but also preserve PAST repertoire of musical masterpieces
In 1829, he mounted the first performance in 100 years of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion

Mendelssohn programmed music by Handel, Haydn, Bach, and Mozart and became instrumental in reviving their music across Europe
Despite his enormous contributions to music, his Jewish heritage still bothered some of his contemporaries–most notably, Wagner
Mendelssohn’s music is the most “classical” of the great Romantic composers–”Classical” Program Music

One of the most ORIGINAL figures in music history
Born near Grenoble, France, the son of a doctor
He never received extensive music training and had little exposure to the great masters
Local tutors taught him to play the flute and the guitar

Among the MAJOR composers of the 19th century, Berlioz was the only one without fluency at the keyboard
He NEVER studied piano and could do no more than bang out a few chords

At 17, Berlioz was sent to Paris to study medicine
After 2 years, he earned a degree
Like Schubert, much to his parents’ dismay, he decided to devote himself fully to music
Because of this, his parents “cut him off” financially

Berlioz had NO means to support himself–Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven all taught piano
Berlioz turned to music criticism
He became the first composer to earn a living as a critic, and CRITICISM, not the sale of his music, would remain his primary source of income

Berlioz was HEAVILY influenced by literature, and, although he spoke little english, he loved SHAKESPEARE
He wrote Concert Overtures for The Tempest and King Lear, Incidental Music for Hamlet, and a Program Symphony called Romeo’ et Juliette

His most CELEBRATED work is:

SYMPHONY FANTASTIQUE (1830)
06-symphonie-fantastique_5.mp3
Perhaps the MOST influential composition of the entire 19th century, it is the FIRST complete Program Symphony
It has 5 movements (not 4), inspired by SHAKESPEARE’s 5-act format
Berlioz creates a single melody that reappears, movement after movement, 8 times during the symphony
This musical fixation is called idee fixe (“fixed idea”)
Symphony Fantastique uses radical techniques including a variation on Sonata-Allegro form, a Medieval chant, rhythmic diminution, and COL LEGNO (“with the wood”) by the violins.

This is the last known photograph of Berlioz
He died in 1869, not getting the credit he thought he deserved

Only Viennese master (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, etc) born IN Vienna
His father was a teacher, and groomed Franz to be one as well
He played violin, and at age 11, was admitted as a choirboy in the “Emperor’s Chapel” (or the Vienna Boys’ Choir)

While in Vienna, in 1810, he the opportunity to study composition with Antonio Salieri
He left the choir in 1812 to enroll in a teacher’s college
By 1815, he was a teacher at his father’s school

Schubert was short–about 5 feet tall–and had bad vision
Because of this, and other reasons, he found teaching to be tedious and abandoned it after 3 years to devote himself fully to music
Made a SMALL income from selling songs, and unlike Beethoven, did NOT have lavish patrons

Schubert lived a Bohemian lifestyle, as did many Romantics
A Bohemian Lifestyle is an untraditional, impoverished way of life that many writers, artists, and musicians of the time lived in
You might call this way of living “voluntary poverty”
A typical day for Schubert during this time would be to wake up, compose in the morning, spend the afternoon in a café talking with friends about literature and politics, and entertaining friends in the evening playing songs
This type of life left Schubert broke–he often stayed with his friends

This period of time marked the end of the ARISTOCRATIC SALON
Middle class people now owned pianos, wrote poetry and dramas
Gatherings at which Schubert would appear were called SCHUBERTIADES by his friends

Schubert contracted syphilis in 1822
When Beethoven died in 1827, Schubert was a pallbearer
He died one year later, in 1828, at the age of 31
He wrote 8 symphonies, 15 string quartets, 21 piano sonatas, 7 masses, and 4 operas, but is primarily known as a composer of ART SONGS–he wrote over 600

“The Trout” Quintet by Schubert
09-piano-quintet-in-a-trout_5_-allegro-giusto.mp3
Piano Quintet composed by Schubert at 22, in 1819
Composed for the unconventional group of violin, viola, cello, bass, and piano
Perfect example of WANDERLUST–this piece is meant to depict the vivid imagery of a trout swimming in a stream
Although not in THIS piece, Schubert started to employ a common form in Romantic music–THROUGH COMPOSED music
When something is THROUGH COMPOSED, it is made up of ever-changing music, constantly develops, and usually has no repetition
Schubert employs another new form in another piece:

“Ave Maria”
ave-maria.mp3
Really titled Ellens dritter Gesang (Lady Of the Lake)
An ART SONG composed by Schubert in 1825
Written for piano and voice
Uses STROPHIC FORM–or CHORUS FORM–where the music often repeats, following stanzas (like a poem) or strophes (lines of lyrics)
STROPHIC FORM is the basically what happens when a chorus repeats in a song, especially with the same words!

The ROMANTIC Period lasted from 1820-1900
CREATIVITY, IMAGINATION, and EXPRESSION abound
Taking a cue from Beethoven, music becomes much more EMOTIONAL!

NEW expression marks to appear during this period include: espressivo (expressively), dolente (sadly), presto furioso (fast and furiously), con forza e passione (with force and passion), misterioso (mysteriously), and maestoso (majestically)

MUSIC and PAINTINGS express feelings about nature and a passion for travel that Germans call Wanderlust

Nationalism also becomes common in arts–a patriotism, passion for one’s country
Boundless imagination is expressed in music in pieces called fantasies and romances

A host of literary Romantic Fantasy is also introduced during this time: Faust (Goethe), Frankenstein (Shelley), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Hugo), and stories by this man–Edgar Allen Poe
These were stories of dreams, nightmares, good, and evil–FANTASY

The ARTIST would now become a HERO
After Beethoven, music would become less ‘disposable’
Orchestras would now begin to revere works by composers like Haydn and Mozart as their core repertoire

The STYLE of Romantic Music would start to replace conformity with ORIGINALITY.
ROMANTIC music is marked by melodic presence, bold progressions, and, at times, dissonance
06-symphonie-fantastique_5.mp3

TEMPO was, at times, cut loose from music. RUBATO (“robbed”) was an expression mark from these times–a free approach to tempo

Orchestras grew in instrumentation, so CONDUCTORS were added
LOUIS SPOHR was the first to use a wooden baton to lead an orchestra
FORMS also changed

Composers wrote miniature, 2-minute pieces, usually for piano, capturing a single mood or emotion
This was called a Character Piece
Character Pieces were usually simple BINARY or TERNARY form

ROMANTIC Genres

PROGRAM MUSIC – instrumental music, usually for symphony orchestra, written to recreate an event, story, play, etc.
ABSOLUTE MUSIC – opposite of PROGRAM music–no source
PROGRAM SYMPHONY – symphony with 3-5 movements working to tell a story

Ex – Symphony Fantastique (Berlioz) 06-symphonie-fantastique_5.mp3

OVERTURE – 1-movement work, usually in Sonata-Allegro form, which fortells, in music, events to follow in an opera or play
CONCERT OVERTURE – NOT designed to precede an opera or play (independent or stand-alone)

Ex – 1812 Overture (Tchaikovsky) 1812-sample.mp3

TONE POEM – 1-movement work for orchestra that gives musical expression to a story, play, or experience

INCIDENTAL MUSIC – music inserted between acts of between scenes in a play
ART SONG - a piece for solo voice and piano, called a LIED by Germans (“song”). It’s first important composer was SCHUBERT.

Ex – Ave Maria (Schubert) ave-maria.mp3