The Understanding of Music

The Understanding of Music

Unit 3: The Clasical Era – Lecture Notes

Classical Era (slide #1, 2, 3)

In the Classical era, society was guided by the principles of order, balance, objectivity, and reasoning. The period is known as the Enlightenment, part of the Age of Reason. It was a progressive period, when social critics were promoting the ideas of freedom, liberty, equality, and the “natural (or God-given rights) rights” of all people. John Locke of England discussed “government existing as a social contract with the governed” – or the people. Voltaire of France objected to the abuses of the ruling monarchies and the church. Rousseau, also from France, stated that “man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains”. Immanuel Kant from Germany issued his “Dare to Know”, suggesting that is was not enough to simply discern ethical principles, but that there was an obligation to take action even at personal risk to implement change, and the American Thomas Jefferson, who wrote about the “inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

The two most notable events were the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Some of America’s founding documents - our Declaration or Independence and the Constitution are considered to be virtual “Enlightenment Manifestos” or the best statements of those ideals. The French Revolution began with the noble ideals of “liberty, equality, fraternity”, by which they meant the ‘brotherhood of man’, and promoted the “3rd estate”, meaning the people. These and other reforms towards more representative and democratic societies resulted in diminishing power of the ruling monarchies - their era of dominance was coming to a close, and the influence of the middle class was rising in part because of the political changes, but also because of the industrial revolution and advances in science. The invention of the steam engine and the cotton gin led to mechanized agriculture, Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity, and vaccination was perfected. During this period, new reference sources such as the French Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the German Lexicon, and Webster’s Dictionary were published. These efforts along other periodicals and monographs supported that idea that if people were going to be capable of “self-government”, they must be an educated culture. The arts were also inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, especially in Architecture. Many of our earliest universities, the nation’s capital, and private estates like Thomas Jefferson’s home feature the column façade of ancient Grecian buildings. It is also significant that ancient Athens had the first democracy, with annual elections, a written constitution, and a jury system, principles included in the developing social order of the new era.

Music in the Classical Era (slide #4)

During the Classical Era, Vienna was considered the “cultural capitol of Europe”. Classical music is referred to as the “Viennese School” and Vienna was the chosen residence of the composers we will study as well as Schubert from the early Romantic period. Music was a part of daily life. In Vienna everyone took lessons and performed music in the home. That contention is supported by history which indicates that in this relatively small city, there were 300 piano teachers alone not counting musicians in other fields. That musical heritage continues today – in the late 20th century, the country of Austria spent almost as much on state-sponsored opera as it did on national defense, a level of support for the arts that is unheard of in the entire history of music. Patronage by the royal courts and aristocrats remained a major source of support for musicians, but as we study the composers, we will learn about the beginning of free-lance careers – Haydn had a lucrative royal court position - Mozart engaged in the difficult life of an independent composer - Beethoven, though supported financially by wealthy aristocrats, was essentially a free artist and perhaps the first to be successful as an independent composer.

Women during the Classical era were enjoying increased opportunities as performers and teachers, some becoming true ‘stars’ and making a career in music. Music performance began to shift for the palace to the public concert hall and opera theatres.

Elements of Musical Style (slide #5)

Before you begin to study the details of Classical music, review this chart which provides an overview of the changes from Baroque to Classical Music.

Classical music is based on the development of melody, and for that reason homophonic texture is the dominant style, with only brief sections of polyphonic imitation. Another area of critical importance is the use of diatonic harmony (or Major and Minor keys) in the development of musical forms. The history of music composition shows a continual increase of instructions provided by the composer for the purpose of dictating the sound of his music. Dynamics which already included the basic forte and piano markings began to use gradual changes such as crescendo and diminuendo, and sforzando, which is a heavy accent on a single note. The late Baroque practice of indicating specific tempo markings became standard practice, and included the use of gradual changes such as accelerando, ritardando, and a tempo. The music is very lyrical and singable as many melodies and rhythms make use of traditional folk song characteristics.

Classical Forms (slide #6)

The Classical Era is a time of a monumental increase in instrumental music. While the oratorio and opera genres developed in the Baroque era continue to evolve in this time period, instrumental music begins to take on a more prominent role. The symphony develops from the instrumental overture found at the beginning of most operas and oratorios. From there, we have the development of chamber music, specifically the string quartet. These latter two forms propel the time period into the development of new forms for musicians and composers.

The Baroque Orchestra (slide #7)

During the Classical Era, the orchestra gradually became larger. The strings were already complete in the Baroque section. The clarinet was invented, completing the basic four families of woodwind instruments in pairs. Trumpets and french horns were also used in pairs. Beethoven increased the size of the orchestra and added additional instruments, particularly trombones and piccolo. When the piano was invented, it replaced the harpsichord as the favorite keyboard instrument. This is because of the Classical composers’ interest in musical contrast. A harpsichord could play only 2 volume levels – loud and soft, but the piano is capable of playing the full range of dynamic levels and articulation styles with a subtlety and nuance not possible on a harpsichord.

Expanding Musical Ideas (slide #8, 9)

Instrumental music in the Classical era is referred to as “Absolute Music” or music without any literary reference. This is different than the “Program Music” example of Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto we studied which was based on a poem. In absolute music, the development of “musical form” based on melody and harmony “contrast” is the most important expressive characteristic. No longer does the “Doctrine of Affections” (or one mood) pervade an entire piece. Contrast is found in the use of multiple melodies, changing harmonies, dynamics, tempos, and varied articulation styles. Here is an example from Beethoven’s 5th symphony with the melody in a legato, or smooth connected style -

Audio - Beethoven legato

Here is another section of the same piece in a “staccato” or short, separated style.

Audio - Beethoven staccato

“Marcato” refers to “an entire section that is heavily accented” and is a term not used in our textbook, but it is a style we should know. Here is an example from Beethoven’s 5th Symphony of marcato style.

Audio - Beethoven marcato

Here is an example from Beethoven’s String Quartet which has a few crescendos (or gradually louder) on repeated notes, and a ritardando (or gradually slower) followed by the “a tempo” or return to the original pace.

Audio - Beethoven String Quartet

Musical forms are built from the multiple themes (or melodies) which can be manipulated in various ways referred to as thematic development. The use of motives, sequences and ostinato are also common development practices. Motive and sequence we have studied before. An “ostinato” is repetition at the same pitch level, not to be confused with “sequence” which we learned as repetition at different pitch levels.

The Multi-movement cycle – First Movement (slide #10)

The Classial era standardized musical form into a 3 or 4 movement cycle, and we will look at the characteristics of each movement. First, harmony is a crucial factor – you will notice that our assigned music includes the harmony or Tonic key as part of the title of the piece – Haydn’s Symphony #100 in G Major, Beethoven’s Symphony #5 in C Minor. Even though our listening guides sometimes indicate specific harmonies used in other sections of a piece (such as the parallel, the relative, the Dominant, the Sub-dominant), we may consider all of them as “contrasting” or “related” harmonies, because contrast is the purpose of any harmonic change. Thus we will examine harmony as only two options – the tonic key, or the “contrasting related” key.

The first movement of a cycle is typically sonata form or sonata-allegro form (the word allegro indicating that is a fast tempo movement). It has three large sections, the exposition, the development, and the recapitulation. The primary melodies are Theme I and Theme II, which contrast both in harmony and in performance style. One common device is for a theme section to build (or crescendo) to a climax and end with repeated cadences, rocking back and forth like the music is stuck in one place. Here is an example of theme I from Mozart’s 40th Symphony.

Audio - Mozart Theme I

Theme II is of course a contrasting melody in a related harmony. Notice that is a less active rhythm, legato style and involves woodwinds, instead of simply the strings used in Theme I. Here is Theme II from Mozart’s 40th Symphony.

Audio - Mozart Theme II

Between Theme I and Theme II is the bridge or transition – either term is correct. The purpose of a bridge is the gradual change of harmony leading from the tonic to a related key. Because it is a gradual change instead of an immediate change, a bridge is very unstable and constantly shifting it’s pitch level. You can think of this as harmony travel, much like turning on various streets to reach your destination. It becomes stable only with the repeated cadences at the end, when it has arrived at the new harmony. Here is an example of Mozart’s bridge.

Audio - Mozart’s bridge

The exposition ends with a closing section. Normally, this does not involve new melodies but simply rounds out the exposition with previous melody ideas and the expected repeated cadences at the end. Here is Mozart’s closing section.

Audio - Mozart’s closing

The development is simply a manipulation of the primary theme and may use any number of devices as indicated on the chart.

Audio - Mozart’s development

The recapitulation is a repeat of the exposition with one major difference – both of the main themes are in the tonic of home key. The sonata form also ends with a coda or short ending section.

The Second Movement (slide #11)

The second movement is normally a Theme and Variations form. We studied that during the materials unit. As the chart shows, the entire piece is based on the same theme, but each variation involves changes in melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic content. One key factor to remember – the theme and the final variation are in the tonic key. Other sections may have the same or different harmonies. The small case letters simply indicate that usually the theme is a 2-part or Binary melody consisting of ‘a’ and ‘b’ phrases. An example we will study later is Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, the second movement

The Third Movement (slide #12)

The standard 3rd movement is the minuet and trio, a basic A B A or ternary form. A minuet is a dance. The second minuet is called a trio because it was common to have this dance performed by only 3 instruments. The closing minuet did not have to be written down. At the end of the trio, they simply inserted the word da capo which means return to the beginning and play the opening theme again, thus developing a ternary structure. The small case letters indicate that usually each theme is a type of 2-part or binary melody. An important fact to remember is that the minuet sections are in the tonic key, while the trio is in a contrasting or related harmony. Our example of minuet and trio is Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusick, the third movement, which we will study later.

The Fourth Movement (slide #13)

Rondo form was the basic fourth movement structure. We have already studied a rondo by Mouret during the Baroque era. The essential elements of a rondo are that the A Theme returns after each contrasting section. Notice that the A Theme is always in the tonic key, while the other sections are in a contrasting or related harmony.

Multi-movement Cycle (slide #14)

This chart is a summary of the four-movement cycle. The basic tempo format is fast, slow, moderate, fast, and common tempo terms are listed. The key of each movement and the standard form of each movement is indicated. The changes in the third movement, shown in parenthesis, refer specifically to Beethoven, who used a Scherzo & Trio instead of the standard Minuet & Trio. This cycle was the common structure for symphonies, string quartets, and some sonatas (especially towards the end of the period). The cycle was developed by using the previous three movement sonata/concerto structure, and inserting an additional dance-like movement which became the third movement. You should print out this page and use as a reference when we are studying the assigned music.