an outline of music history from boethius forward

Medieval Music:


 Boethius (d. 525)  Treatise:  De Musica   Three Levels of Music:    Musica humana:  symmetry of the body and soul    Musica mundana:  “music of the spheres” – harmony of the world about us    Musica instrumentalis:  practical music (subject to the two higher levels)     Cantores:  knew only the “how” (performers)     Musicus:  understood the mathematical ratios    Music is number made audible (Pythagoras)     Music is a way of depicting the beauty and perfection of God   Greek System:  Trivium:  grammar, rhetoric and dialectic              Quadrivium:  arthmetic, geometry, music and astronomy     (followed by philosophy and theology (highest level))

Hours:  Greater:  Matins, Lauds, Vespers and Compline  Lesser:  Prime, Terce, Sext and Nones  (built around the singing of the psalms)   Mass: Ordinary:   Proper:   Kyrie   Introit   Gloria   Offertory   Sanctus   Communion   Agnus Dei   Gradual   Credo   Alleluia

Missal:  Texts for the ordinaries and propers of the mass Graduale:  Music for the ordinaries and propers of the mass Breviary:  Texts for the hours (except Matins) Antiphonale:  Music for the hours (except Matins) Liber Usualis:  One volume compendium including parts from the above plus Matins (prepared during the late 19th Century)

Pythagorean Tuning:  Derived from fundamental proportions    2:1 perfect octave   3:2 perfect fifth   4:3 perfect fourth   9:8 perfect second   (all other intervals are derived through a process of addition and subtraction) Modes:   Range Reciting tone/tenor  Dorian I D-D a  Hypodorian II A-A f   Phyrgian   III E-E c  Hypophrygian IV B-B a  Lydian V F-F c  Hypolydian VI C-C a  Mixolydian VII G-G d  Hypomixolydian VIII D-D c

 Ambitus:  range  Final of modes are their starting pitch final of hypo-modes are the same as their related mode

Non-Roman Rites   Influenced by local tradtions, impact of foreign importations, changes due to oral tradition and distance from Rome  Ambrosian Chant – Milan  (St. Ambrose)  Gallican Rite – France (most influential on development of Roman Rite)  Mozarabic Rite – Spain  Byzantine Rite- Eastern Europe  Sarum – Salisbury, England  Celtic Rite – Ireland – Act of piety and confession (Missal of Stowe)

Troubadours (Southern France)     music intended for aristocratic audience  Noble musican-poets of secular music   poetry reflects the feelings of the author  mid-11th Century     principal subjects:   Love  Language:  Provencal or langue d’oc     political satire  Duke of Aquitaine, notable troubadour     death songs Trouveres (Northern France)       political debates  mid-12th Century       crusades  Language:  langue d’oil Jongleur:  special class of musician who performed the music of the troubadours (movement disappeared in France around the beginning of the 13th Century)


Fixed Forms:  (13th-14th Century)  Secular Monophony   Rondeau  ABAAABAB   Virelai  ABBAA   Ballade  AAB

Minnesingers:  Late 12th to Early 14th Century Germany-descendents of the troubadour/trouvere tradition Bar Form: German version of the ballade (AAB)

Meistersingers:  Guild-like organization of middle-class that took over the minnesinger tradition in Germany  Survived into the 19th century  Musician-poets, but primarily poets

Doctrine of Ethos:  Ancient Greek  Ethical character of various scales  Dorian – masculine, represents the ancient tradition  Phyrgian - passionate, ecstatic  Lydian – femine, lascivious  Mixolydian – sad, mournful

Cantus planus – plainsong, Gregorian chant (term not used until 13th Century) Psalm:  Book of psalm set to music and sung during offices Sequence:  orginally long melismas sung without text after the word alleluia Conductus:  (12th and 13th Century)  Latin Strophic Song  Secular, sacred, lyrical political texts  Based on freely invented melodies  Counterpart to troubador/trouvere songs Chanson de geste:  French epic poem of middle ages  Long in length – often more than 10,000 lines of equal meter Estampie: (13th and 14th Century)  Instrumental form  4-7 puncta (sections) which were repeated   AABBCCDD etc  often different endings for the 1st and 2nd times (a+x, a+y, b+x, b+y, c+x, c+y, etc Clausulae:  (late 12th –Early 13th Century)  Notre Dame School  Short polyphonic works based on a melisma of a responsorial chant (gradual, alleluia, reponsory)  Tenor has a portion of original  text  Led to the motet Motet:  Early 13th Century:   Addition of a full text to the upper part (duplum) of the clausulae   Tenor usually a melisma from a chant   Later- rhythmic structure quicker patterns in upper voice, slower patterns in lower voice   14th Century:   Addition of secular texts in the vernacular   Isorhythm (Machaut)  15th Century:   cantus firmus abandoned for “free composition” of tenor  Renaissance:   Choral piece in imitative style on a latin extra-liturgical text   Still treble dominated (Burgundian school)   Expanded in length (to 1 or 3 sections)   Expanded number of voices (to 4 or 5)   Polychoral (Venetian)   Points of Imitation (Josquin) Ligatures:  13th –16th Century   Notational style that combines two or more notes in a singly symbol  Franco of Cologne – mensural notation – added rhythmic values to ligatures (13th Century) Ars Antigua:    Ars Nova: 13th Century    14th Century (trecento) triple divisions of beat    duple and triple divisions of beat      compositions in the Roman defauvel      Philip deVitry (duple divisions)      More frequent use of thirds and sixths
Tempus perfectum: Principle of triple divisions of the beat dominating the 13th Century Le Roman de Fauvel:  14th Century Manuscript  Paris  Motets and monophonic songs inserted in a continuous narrative  Ars Nova works Isorhythmic Motet:  14th Century  reiterated scheme of valus for the presentation of the cantus firmus  color-notes  talea-rhythm  Machaut Caccia:  14th Century  Italian poetry and music  Strict canon in 2 parts  Subjects:  hunting/fishing scenes, street vendor cries  Often has supporting tenor line in long values (not involved in canon) Ballata:  14th Century  Italian Secular Song  Related to Virelai  AbbaA form

Composers:  Leonin:    Perotin:    Machaut:   Late 12 th Century   late 12th/early 13th Centuries  (1300-1377)   Magnus Liber Organi   revised Magnus Liber Organi  dominant French composer   (great book of organum)  (added 3rd and 4th parts)        of Ars Nova    2-part     contributed to development of  fixed forms   among first to employ modal   mensural notation  process of composing     rhythms   further developed modal rhythm       treble melody first       work:  “Viderunt omnes”       and then lower        cantus firmus plus added voices-       voices (as opposed       added voices only need to         to Cantus firmus        correspond to cantus firmus not        technique       to each other   1st to set complete                  Mass Ordinary –                 Notre Dame Mass                 (4 Voices)           rhythmic variety-                                   duple meter,                   prolation  Landini:   14 th Century Italian Composer   2-3 voice polyphony   ornamented upper part over 1-2 less active lower parts   Lanini Cadence:  upward leap of a third in melodic line to create a perfect interval at cadence   Lots of 3rds and 6ths (Ars Nova)

Neumes:  9 th Century  / \ for marking direction of melodic line   marked over text

Guido of Arezzo:  11th Century  Introduced four line staff  Guidonian Hand – method for singing/learning intervals by pointing to location on hand

Madrigal:  14th Century:   secular song for 2 or 3 voices   ornamented conductus style   AAB form   Major Composers:  Jacopo da Bologna and Francesco Landini   Ars Nova – use of thirds and sixths      Triple and duple rhythm

(Madrigal):  16th Century (Renaissance):  secular song form  4-6 voices  contrasting chordal and imitative textures using poetry from 14th century models, but avoiding a fixed form or    rhyme scheme  sung in upper and upper-middle class social gatherings, meetings of academies and special occasions

RENAISSANCE MUSIC (15th and 16th Centuries):  Music as an autonomous art (unshackled by Greek Thoery)  Based on the interval of a third (rather than P4, P5, and octave)  Simultaneously conceived counterpoint (rather than composed part by part against cantus firmus)  Fauxbourdon:  three voice singing basically in first inversion (frequently used by Dufay  Tone-painting/text-painting  French Chanson – air de cour  Motet (Palestrina)  Equality of Voices  Expression of text important  Imitation  Concertato Style (Giovanni Gabrieli)  Expressive use of chromaticism  Freer use of dissonance  Vocal polyphony  Music that pleases the ear – important goal (as opposed to “philosopher king”)

Instruments:  Medieval:    Renaissance:   Lute    Lute   Kithera    Keyboard       Recorders       Viols       Crumhorns       Cornetti       Sackbuts

Instrumental Forms;  Medieval:    Renaissance:   Estampie    Fantasia (Luis Milan)       Prelude       Basse Dance       Pavane-galliard       Passamezzo-saltarello       Ricercare       Canzona       Toccata (Merulo) Mass:  Sung ordinary (from medieval) 1) Requiem Mass 2) Organ Mass (polyphonic organ music in alternation with chant) 3) Plainsong Mass (uses appropriate chant as cantus firmus) 4) Cantus Firmus Mass (one basic melody, often borrowed from secular used as cantus firmus for all movements) 5) Motto Mass (same motive at the beginning of each movement) 6) Paraphrase Mass (a paraphrased or embellished cantus firmus from chant, chanson or motet is used) 7) Parody or Imitation Mass (borrowed polyphonic material, more than just melody, from motet, chanson or even madrigal 8) Prolation Mass (using more different meters for each voice (Ockeghem)) *more than one technique could be used in the same composition **popularity of the Mass reflects the church’s strong position as a patron Chanson:  14th Century:   Secular song that developed out of the fixed forms  15th Century (end of):  “free (free of fixed forms)   more imitation and canon  polyphonic (imitation and counterpoint with some homophonic sections  Dufay, Binshois, Lassus  Sectional form  Lead to the canzona


Anthem:  English Motet  Evolved from Latin motet after the Reformation  Latin title, but sung in English  Simpler and more homophonic than “motet”   More faithful to conveying text clearly than “motet”  Composer:  Byrd Verse Anthem:  Alternates solo sections with full choir sections  Anglican Church (new in Renaissance)  Byrd Lied:  German polyphonic song  Secular  Finck Ricercare:  16th Century instrumental pieces  work for keyboard or instrumental ensemble  resembles motet in its points of imitation  often composed on a single theme – continuously developed  anticipates the fugue  Frescobaldi Frottola:  Middle Renaissance  Italian  Secular song  Usually set in treble dominated style and lighter in tone and texture than the Renaissance madrigal Canzona:  Instrumental compostion derived from Chanson retaining the sectional structure, varied features and lively rhythms  Frescobaldi Fantasia:  Late 16th –17th Century improvisatory piece for Lute or Keyboard  Luis Milan Chorale:  a protestant hymn cutlivated during Renaissance and Baroque periods Carol:   15th Century:   Associated with form only – not subject   Refrain form:  Burden 1 , verse 1, Burden 2, verse 2, Burden 3, verse 3, etc     (burden + refrain)  16th Century:   Began to be associated with Christmas (maybe from Medieval French Carole – a round dance associated with     Pagan dances celebrating solstice)   Gradually lost its association with a single form or style Canon:  A stated melody is repeated in it entirety in subsequent parts Discantus (discant):  12th-15th Centuries:   term for polyphonic music in which a part was composed against a plainsong (cantus firmus)   Perotin considered a skilled discanter   To 11 th Century synonymous with organum…became associated with more elaborate types of organum later     (with melismas in upper voices) L’Homme Arme:  15th Century melody that became famous because of its use as a tenor of Polyphonic Masses.  Readily used because of its long rhythms as scalar motion  Masses by:  Dufay, ockeghem, Obrecht, Josquin, Palestrina and others Odhecaton:   1501  published by Petrucci (he printed 96 songs…even  though title implies 100 songs)  earlist printed publication of polyphonic songs  includes Ockeghem, Obrecht, Isaac, Josquin and others Missa Prolationum:  Ockeghem (1420-1497)  Each of the four voices sings in a different mensuration (time signature)  2/4, ¾, 6/8, 9/8 respectively (in modern noation) Musica Reservata:  Term used by Adrian Coclico in his “Compsenium musices” (1552) to describe the music of Josquin and his followers as    opposed to that of the preceding period (Ockeghem, Obrecht, Isaac)  Expressing emotion in music within the reserved constraints of the aristocracy (moderation and detachment) – led to    Baroque “Doctrine of Affections”


Choralis Constaninus:  H. Isaac  Large cycle litugical compositions written for the Cathedral of Constance (completed by his student Senfl and published    posthumoulsly)  3 vols.  Settings of the proper for the Mass  Lauda:  (13th –19th Centuries)  Italian Hymns sung in Italian  Origin and development connected to St. Francis of Assisi  Refrain poem form Lochamer Liederbuch (c. 1450):  “German Songs” Collection  most important collection of German folksong (vocal pieces) Glogaur Liederbuch:  Contains vocal and instrumental pieces  German folksong collection Quodilbet:  Humorous type of music in which well-known melodies or texts are combined in an advisedly incongrous manner  Polyphonic quodlibet:  different melodies used simultaneously in different voice-parts  Successive Quodlibet:  melodies used in succession  Textual Quodlibet:  mixture of borrowed texts Villancico:  15th/16th Century Spanish poetry  idyllic or amorous subjects  refrain form (related to the ballata) Toccata:  a keyboard composition in free, idiomatic keyboard style employing full chords and running passages with or without the    inclusion of sections in imitative style (A. Gabrieli) Council of Trent:  1545-1563  Council of the Roman Church  Attempt to compat theseculariztion of previous centuries  Abolished all tropes and all but 4 sequences  Endangered polyphonic music because they considered abolishing everything but plainsong in the service Fitzwilliam Virginal Book:  Most extensive collection of virginal music (containing 297 pieces by practically all of the major composers of the    virginalist school)  Byrd, Bull, Gibbons,   Virginal:  a form of harpsichord Old Hall Manuscript:  English  Late 14th – Early 15th Century Manuscript (compiled c. 1410)  Consists of sections devoted to settings of single sections of the mass ordinary    (Kyrie missing)  contains one work by Dunstable and works by other minor composers Fall of Constanople (1453):  Brought Byzantine scholars to Europe  Spurred classic revival of the renaissance “rebirth of classic virtues of antiquity” – especially in art and literature Dukes of Burgundy:  Royal patrons of the arts (as opposed to the church)  Duke Philip of Burgundy also a performer of note  Busnois served in the courts of Burgundy  (15th Century) Early Renaissance Composers (Early 15th Century): Dufay:   Dunstable:   Binchois:   Ockegham: c.1400-1474  c.1390-1453  c.1400-1460  c.1420-1497 Franco-Flemish  English   Burgundian  Franco-Flemish Fauxbourdon  3rds and 6ths combined Fauxbourdon  3rds and 6ths    W/French polyphonic tradition Burgundian Style (vertically Influenced Burgundian style treble-dominated style  Known for Cantus Firmus Mass:      Oriented music  Metric form common to  Contemporary of Dufay      Missa L’Homme Arme Prominent in cyclic develop-     Dunstable:          Missa Caput     Ment of the Mass Ordinary      triple – duple – triple         Missa Prolationum     As large scale musically     (each meter being a      Unified whole based on a      section of the work)     Borrowed cantus firmus English school – wrote almost     (tenor mass) – brought to     exclusively sacred music     Franco-Flemish School Perhaps 1st to use secular      Melody “L’homme Arme”
(Dufay): developed a countertenor       to cantus firmus creating      a bass Motet “Ave Regina Coelorum” Burgundian Cadence

Middle Renaissance Composers (Late 15th Century-Early 16th Century): Josquin:   Lassus:   Byrd:   Palestrina:   c. 1440-1521  1532-1594   1543-1623   c. 1525-1594 Franco-Flemish  Franco-Flemish  English   Italian Musica Reservata  Culminating figure of Franco- Elizabethan Composer Sacred polyphony at its height 1st to use systmatic points of     Flemish school  Perfected English Virginal  Free Mass on original material     imitation as a basis for Free imitative technique,      style        “Missa Papae Marcelli”     composition      Parody   May have invented Verse  Refined and culminated  4-5 interlocking parts  Leads to Baroque choral sound,     Anthem       Netherlands imatative  Chanson “Mille Regretz”     chord progression and bass Vertical Chord alienments     technique Motet:  “Ave verum”      (strong structural use of Imitation   Church music of Counter-              “Salve Regina”     tonality)   3rds and 6ths       Reformation - officially Influenced Gombert and  No plainchant cantus firmus         sanctioned by the church      Willaert  “Requiem Mass” Canon, Counterpoint, ostinato Chanson “O Faible Espirit”

English Style:    Franco-Flemish Style: Full chords with third    Points of Imitation Block chord passages    More contrapuntal Uniformly consonant    More Chormatic Sacred Music dominates   Often heavier in style (except French Chanson) Carefully controlled dissonance Lighter 

Burgundian Cadence:  Disguised V-I Cadence   Three Voice   Top voice-seventh moves to the octave   2 nd Voice-leaps up an octave (from dominant)   lower voice-descends one step to tonic  Dufay

BAROQUE MUSIC: Doctrine of Affections:  An aesthetic theory of the late baroque describing human affections and how they should be expressed in  music.  Music could create-recreate a given feeling (discussed in treatises by Quantz, Mattheson and others) Basso Continuo (Thorough Bass) (Figured Bass):  a method of notating accompanying parts by using bass notes together with  numerical figures indicating intervals and chords above the bass.  Continuo:  clavier, organ or lute fills in chords while  cello, bass gamba or bassoon reinforce the bass Intermezzo:  A light theatrical entertainment introduced between acts of a serious play or opera – predecessor to intermedi and opera  buffa Madrigal Comedy:  Modern desination for a late 16th Century type in which an entire play was set to music in the form of madrigals or  other types of contemporary polyphonic vocal music (Vecchi: l’Amfiparnaso (c. 1594)) Pastoral:  16th Century – a dramatic performance with an idyllic plot (shepherds, etc.).  French forerunner to opera.  (Lully:  Les Festes  de l’Amour et de Bacchus (1672)) Monody:  Florentine Camerata (c. 1580) met at Count Bardi’s palace  An attempt to rediscover Greek expressive musical principles  Monody:  an expressive accompanied solo song somewhere between speech and singing with simple chordal     accompaniment  Led to the development of opera, oratorio and cantata  Text has a speech rhythm of its own that polyphony interferes with – monody to use tones that would enhance the speech    of a good orator  Caccini/Peri:  Euridice  (pastoral, mythological subject)  (first opera, written together for the marriage of Henry IV of    France) Stile rappresentativo (monody):  (Italian)  passages of melody in vocal or instrumental music characterized by freedom of rhythm,  irregularity of phrasing, frequent pauses and other traits of recitative (which it led to) Ritornello:  17th Century – instrumental refrain to an aria or song….appears in early opera Episode:  from fugue form, a secondary passage or section forming a digression from the main theme. Recitative:  a vocal style designed to imitate and emphasize the natural inflections of speech  In opera, serves to carry the action between arias…functions as the narrative prose   Florentine Recitative:  possibly modeled after Greek reciting poetry to instrumental accompaniment (Kithara) – see    monody  Usually accompanied by chords rather than melodic material
Aria:  a composition for solo voice (or duo) with accompaniment, developed out of monody  Ostinato Aria:  (c. 1630) somposed over a short basso ostinato  Da capo Aria:  (c. 1650) ABA’ (tonic, dominant, tonic)   Became mainstay of opera  Developed into concerto instrumental form…..sonata allegro Arioso:  (recitative aria):  a lyrical and expressive recitative (as opposed to narrative and speech-like)  Florentine Opera (Peri, Monteverdi, Caccini)  Predates speech-like recitative Overture:  instrumental composition serving as an introduction to opera, oratorio and similar works – originally composed and used  with various operas (interchangable) – later uses specific material related to a particular opera   French Overture (c. 1650)    Slow intro – dotted rhythms – pompous style for entrance of the King    Allegro in Imatative style on a shor canzona-like subject (imitative treatment not strictly maintained)     sometimes fast section ends with slow adagio section (Lully’s operas)   Italian Overture     Three sections:  Allegro – Adagio – Allegro      1 st section – some imitative treatment     2 nd section – predominantly homophonic     3 rd section – predominantly homophonic    Often called “sinfonia”    Led to the classical sonata and symphony Commedia dell’arte:  (Italian c. 1500) Commical stage presentation – had no music   Characters became standard in comic opera:   Venetian Merchant and his unfaithful wife   Unscrupulous lawyer   Bolognese doctor   Comic Servant  Mozart:  Le Nozze di Figaro  Pergolesi:  La Serva Padrona  Stravinsky:  Pulcinella (ballet) Ground Bass:  a short melodic bass, sometimes inherited from 16th century dances or improvisatory pieces, repeated over and over  again as a bassline with varying upper parts (can occur transposed or slightly varied) (Byrd) Romanesca Bass:  a homophonic bass (implies chord progressions) used for the composition of arie per cantar and dance variations  (16th and 17th Century) (ostinato or isorhythmic pattern)  In arie per cantar – singers improvised discant over bass.  Typical  bass figure:  Bb, F, G, D, Bb, G, D, G Chaconne – Passacaglia:  distinction between the two blurred, ostinato bass in a tetrachord descending from dominant to tonic by steps  or chromatically (became more elaborate) implying I-IV-V-I pattern….ostinato appearing in other voices as a variation  (Purcell:  Dido and Aeneas (1689) aria-extended chromatic descent Stile Concertato:  Concertato Style  Contrast of one voice against another (concerto)  Roots:  polychoral works of Venetian school (Gabrieli:  sonata a pian’ e forte)  Contrast of counterpoint and monody  Growth of Concertato style can be traced through Books 5-8 of Monteverdi’s Madrigals Figurenlehre (17th and 18th Centuries):  a German effort to codify in music the Doctrine of Affections, a codification of the musical  practices used to produce the affections or emotional meaning in music

Prima Prattica:     Seconda Prattica: Renaissance     Baroque Text in service to music    Music serves text expression Palestrina and Netherlanders    Monteverdi Written in theoretical writings of Zarlino Restricted use of dissonance    Free use of dissonance to express feelings in text Musica Reservata     Doctrine of Affections Free Rhythm (madrigal, chanson)    Regular rhythm (aria) vs. free rhythm (recitative) (often in contrast  Imitation      - tocatta (free) and fugue (regular) Equal voice polyphony    Treble and bass dominated

Strophic Variations:  (early 17th Century)  Same bass for every stanza – text and melody may vary (Monteverdi:  L’Orfeo, aria  “Possente spirto” Stile rappresentativo:  theater style, usually narrative text, recitatives and short speeches Stile Concitato:  style of dramatic expression and representation Cantata:  solo duet or chorus with ensemble accompaniment                 Sacred or secular text (secular came first)                 Aria and Recitative                 Dramatic, but not acted out (no props, etc)                 Off- spring of monodic style                 (Bach sacred and secular contatas) Oratorio:  sacred or contemplative narrative texts (no props, acting)                   Solo voices, chorus and orchestra (greater emphasis on chorus than opera) (Handel:  Messiah)
Turba:  In oratorios, passions, etc term for choral movement representing the Jews or heathens (usually allegro, fugal style with close  imitation)  (Bach’s:  St Matthew Passion) Testo:  narrator in Oratorios and Passions Canzona:  (16th and 17th Century)  Instrumental form   Developed from French Chanson (especially Josquin) – alternation of sections in differing meters/styles  Sectional structure with contrasting characters (imitative vs. homophonic styles, triple vs. duple meter) occur juxtaposed in    a single work  Led to sonata  Frescobaldi, Merulo Fantasia:  Instrumental form for keyboard or lute with an improvisatory character (Luis Milan)  (Sweelinck:  Chromatic Fantasia – continuous development of a single chromatic theme) Sonata:  a composition for a small group of instruments and continuo consisting of several sections or movements in contrasting  textures and tempos Sonata da chiesa:    Sonata da camera:  Trio Sonata:   Church sonata    Chamber sonata  4 instruments (2 upper instruments and  Note in dance rhythms or titled as dance movements Suite of stylized dances  continuo Corelli:  established slow-fast-slow-fast structure    writing essentially in three parts  Off-spring of the Italian Overture      1660 developed into sonata da chiesa and  *These two types became clearly distinguished after 1660.   Sonata da camara         (Corelli, Buxtehude, Handel)         Established continuo as standard practice

Partita:  variation (Froberger, Bach, Bohm) Agrements:  (17th Century) – French system of ornamentation – later accepted throughout Europe as standard ornamentations (turn,  etc.) Tragedie Lyrique:  (ca. 1660)  Louis XIV, France  Lully:  Alceste  Blended elements of ballet and drama   Quinault librettist  Serious text on mythological subject – glorified the king and French nation  Music reflected the pomp and splendor of the French Court  In French language – Lully attempted to write music that reflected the rhythms of the French language  French Overture Opera Ballet:  more ballet than opera, spectacle important (Rameau:  Les Indes galantes (1735) (French) Masque:  (Late 17th Century) British Opera  Similar to French Court Ballet  Entertainment of the nobility  Poetry, music, dancing and acting  Mythical or allegorical subjects  Originated in  Italy and France (Forerunner to opera)  (Ben Johnson) Equal Tempermant:  one of many systems of tuning used during the Baroque and earlier periods – became established as the norm.    Divided the octave into 12 semi-tones (second square root of twelve)  Possibly devised by Andreas Werckmeister (c. 1700)  Bach:  Well-Tempered Clavier Fortspinnung:  (German)  melodic construction – process of continual development or working out of material (as opposed to  repetition) – Baroque ideal Orchestral Suite:  a suite of music from opera, ballet or other larger works (Bizet:  L’Arlesienne, Tchaikovsky:  Suite from the  Nutcracker) Basse fondamentale:  Rameau’s theory of a ficticious bass line that consists of the roots of the chords ocuring in a succession of  harmonies (demonstrated Rameau’s novel theory of inverted chords) Passion:  a musical setting of the text of the passion according to one of the four evangelists (St. John, St. Mark, St. Matthew or St.  Luke), exeisted in plainsong, polyphonic passion, Baroque passion, passion oratorio)..singers and ensemble   Baroque Passion:  (17th Century)    Aria, recitative and orchestra    Freer treatment of text (broadened, paraphrased, etc)    Approaching oratorio in magnitude (Schutz)    (Passion-Oratorio:  Bach:  St. Matthew Passion) Querrelle des Bouffons:   (French)  “War of the Buffoons”  1752 , Paris  French Serious Opera (Lully and Rameau) – counterpoint (supported by Louis XIV and Madame de Pompadour)    Vs.  Italian Opera Buffa (Pergolesi:  La Serva Padrona)  (supported by the Queen, Rousseau, Diderot)   More natural melodic expression  (Really Baroque vs. Roccoco) Rameau:    Treatise on Harmony (1722)  Basse fondamentale (chords and inversions)
(Rameau):  chord primary element – not the melodic line or interval  derived the major triad from the overtone series  posited building chords by triad  posited functional harmony through dominance of the tonic, subdominant and dominant chords  Modulation through pivot chords  Harmony implying melody

BAROQUE STYLE:     CLASSICAL STYLE: Continuous spun-out melodic motion   Phrases, periods and sections Doctrine of Affections    Rational techniques of thematic development and drama of tonal         relations       Disciplined logic (from Greek)       Intellectualism attracted Goethe and other intellectuals       Encylopedists (Diderot)       “raise man above the wordly realm to the realm of the spirit and         higher morality” (Greek) Irregular phrase structure    Symmetry and Balance (4 and 8 bar phrases) Counterpoint     Theme and homophonic accompaniment One basic melodic idea (affection) spun out   Contrast of Themes or melodic ideas (sonata allegro form) One Basic Tonal Center    Contrast of Tonal Centers (sonata allegro form)

Pre-Classical Period Styles (Early 18th Century): Style galant:  France (rococo or gallant style)  Light textured, elegant style  Arose in courtly aristocratic circles  Elegant, playful, witty, polished and ornate  Baroque decorativeness (lots of ornamentation) without grandeur  (JGB Neruda) Enfindsamer Stil:  German (style burgeouis or sensitive style) (1760-1770)  CPE Bach  Composite of Baroque and Classical Styles  Expressive style that relies strongly on changes of mood and dynamics  Middle class  Not ornate  Turns Baroque Affections into sentiments of the individual soul  Chromaticism – sigh (motive ending portamento on a weak beat) – aim to express feelings naturally  “sturm und drang” – abrubt shifts of harmony, strange modulations, expectant pauses, changes of texture, sudden sfz    accents) (**Both styles:  Melody reigns supreme and bass loses its contrapuntal interest (inner-voices become chordal)

Scarlatti Keyboard (Harpsichord) Sonatas):  (Late Baroque-Early Classical)  two movements in same key (sometimes similar in mood and style)  two sections each repeated:   section 1:  tonic – dominant   section 2 modulating – tonic  (tension near the middle (modulating section) (Classical) rather than near the end (cadence) (Baroque)) Classical Sonata:  Haydn, Mozart, Beethove  3-4 movements (sometimes 2)  contrasting mood and tempo  1 st movement typically sonata form (sometimes slow movement and finale as well) Symphony: Precursors:  Influenced by Italian Opera Overture (or sinfonia)   Fast-slow-fast movement design   Mvmt 1    Mvmt 2 lyrical   Mvmt 3 dance rhythm   (not thematically related to the opera – began to be performed independently)   ca. 1730 composers began to write independent “sinfonias”  (not intended for opera, but to be performed alone)  Suite (of dances) – multi-movement instrumental work  -  Minuett addition to the symphony  Sonata da chiesa – multi-movement form – instrumental  Concerto – idea of contrast – instrumental multi-movement work  Pre-Classical Symphonists:   Giovanni Battista Sammartini (Milan) (1701-1775)    Symphony in G (forward looking) – 4 mvmts, fourth movement a Minuetto, opening “Allegro ma      non troppo” resembles sonata form   
Matthias Monn (1717-1750) (Vienna) Symphony in D (1740) – typical four movement structure of classical symphony (allegro, aria, Menuetto,  allegro)  Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715-1777)   Symphony in D (1746) – 3 mvmts – 1st mvmt comes close to sonata form  Mannheim School   Composers:  Johann Stamitz (1717-1757)       F. X. Richter (1709-1789)   4 mvmt form   lyrical second theme   introduced orchestral crescendo and decrescendo   tutti sound throughout   prominence of wind scoring  Berlin (North German School):    CPE Bach   Contributed:    Unified thematic development in quasi dramatic style    Enriched symphonic texture with counterpoint Symphonie Concertante (ca. 1770) (France):  Symphonic work employing two or more solo instruments in addition to the regular orchestra  Composers:  Gossec and Cambini Singspiel (German)/Opera Comic (France) – spoken dialogue – lighter  plot, folk elements, ensemble finale  Mozart:  Die Zauberflote (singspiel) Drama Giocoso:  emphasis on ensemble singing            More realistic characterization             Balance of serious plot and comic elements            Concert Ensemble finales            Mozart:  Don Giovanni String Quartet:   (emerged last 1/3 of 18th Century)  Emergence of 2 vlns, va, vc as established ensemble (due to decline of trio sonata)  Haydn brought to artistic level  Important steps:  equalization of parts             Four movement form             Use of thematic development and counterpoint  Precursors:  divertimento, Viennese serenade and other “entertaining forms” with no basso continuo  Beethoven:  expanded length, manner of expression, sonority Opera Seria:   (Italian)  Pietro Metastasio (primary librettist – also Italian poet)  3 acts  recitative/aria alternations  conflict of human passions based on a story from an ancient Greek or Latin poet (plot usually involves two pairs of lovers    plus subordinates)  chief musical interest in the aria (especially da capo aria form)  Handel:  Rinaldo; Handel:  Giulio Cesare; Mozart:  Idomeneo Opera Reform:  (mid 18th Century)  Problems:  emphasis on aria (singers often substituted arias without regard for narrative, etc)   Extra melodic embellishment and cadenzas freely added by the singers to show virtuosity (without regard to     narrative)   Heavily slanted toward the coloratura  Reform:  Make opera more natural and flexible inorder to carry narrative more realistically  Composers:  Niccolo Jommelli and Tommaso Traetta  Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)   Consummation of international style in opera   Operas:  Alceste, Orfeo ed Euridice   “music should serve narrative”    Opera Reform Mozart’s Operas:  The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) (Singspiel)  Idomeneo (Opera serie)  Le nozze di Figaro  Don Giovanni (drama giocoso)  Cosi fan Tutti (Opera buffa)  Die Zauberflote (German Opera) (Singspiel)







Symphony: Haydn:    Mozart:    Beethoven: Wrote in seclusion of Esterhazy Palace Cosmopolitan prodigy   Took lessons from Haydn (1792)         Performed for Mozart (1787) Patron:  Princes of Esterhazy  Various positions w/wo patrons  No patron Music similar to pre-classical symphonists angular lines/chromaticism  culmination of classical forms 1781 befriended Mozart “Esterhazy Symphonies”  programmatic Italian Influence (K. 81/K.182)  works basis of romantic style (forward  titles  #6 Le Matin (Morning)  (Sammartini) (1770-73)  looking)           #7  Le Midi (Noon)           #8  Le soir (Evening) Haydn Influence (1781) (K. 133)  music a direct outpouring of his Early Symphonies “Pre-Classical”      personality  3 Mvmt form (# 9 and # 19) K. 183 – 1st Masterwork in symphonic    (3 mvmt from It Ov.  Form    Last mvmt gigue or   “sturm un drang” (Haydn abrupt contrasts of mood (#5, #8)   Minuet    influence)  Sonata da chiesa style (4 mvmt  Thematic unity –expansion music as a personal mode of expression   s-f-s-f) (# 21 & #22)   of form (similar to  (influenced romantic period) # 35- # 38 appearance of swift rondo form   k. 201) “sturm und drang” emotion (# 44, 45, 47)     expansion of form (#3 /I expo – 6 themes)  more dramatic – larger scale Vienna Period (1781-)  sforzandos, etc   influenced by study of Bach:  Art  expansion of resources (#9 - Maturity – Paris Symphonies (# 82-87)   of the Fugue and WTC  chorus)    (commission for Paris  also still influenced by Haydn concert series)  Apex:  Haffner Symphony (K. 385) Wrote 9 Symphonies  Oxford Symphonies (#88-92)              Prague Symphony (K. 504)   Coincide with time he             Jupiter Symphony (K. 551)   Received Dr. from  summation of aspects of Mozart’s   Oxford University)   musical language   (4 mvmts (Allegro, Adagio,    (clarity, concise, musically   Minuetto, Rondo)   mature) London Symphonies – crowning    Lyrical 2nd Theme in Sonata form   Achievement    (unlike Haydn)  # 94 Surprise  #100 Military   Mozart – combination of Italian lightness Expanded Orchestra (tpts own parts – not   and entertainment with German  Doubling horns – add clarinets)   seriousness and intellectualism  (Cellos independent of basses)   (counterpoint) Expanded Harmonic Range (explores mediant  Relationship between mvmts)  Wrote around 50 Symphonies    Wide-ranging modulations  Chromaticism (# 104) Unlike Mozart, extensive changes in order   And repetition of themes in  Sonata form recapitulation Wrote over 100 Symphonies

Haydn Oratorios:  The Creation and The Seasons

Beethoven: Three Style Periods (so named by Vincent D’Indy):  First Style Period (Imitation) (1770-1802):        Dependence on “classical tradition”:    Six String Quartets, Op. 18 (Haydn-like motivic development)    First 10 Piano Sonatas (4 mvmts instead of classical 3 – addition of Beethoven’s characteristic      “scherzo” movement)    Symphony #1 (Haydn influence in technique – all mvmts “textbook” models of form)    Symphony #2 (Large Scale form suggests 2nd Period – Haydn influence in technique)  Second Style Period (Externalization) (1802-1816):    Symphonies #3-8      Symphony #3 (Eroica) – unprecedented length and complexity (mvmt I expositon has 6       themes plus extended codas)    Fidelio    String Quartets, Op. 59 (emotional fire, new themes grow imperceptibly out of old ones, disquised      recapitulations, propulsive drive, complex developments, extended codas)  Third Style Period (Reflection) (1816-1827):    Symphony #9 (Extremes meet (the sublime and the grotesque)) choral finale – new to symphony    Last five piano sonatas    Missa Solemnis    String Quartets, Opp. 127, 130-132, 135 and Grosse Fugue
Beethoven (Third Style Period):    Diabelli Variations    Deafness    Style: Intentionally blurring dividing lines between phrases and cadences Working out of themes to their utmost potentialities (thematic variation – whole theme in  new guises rather than fragmenting theme) Classical forms stretched beyond limits Works have a meditative character (tranquil)     Language more concentrated and more abstract (extensive contrapuntal textures resulting       in new sonorities) Beethoven’s Influence on Romantic Period Symphony:  Two “Schools of Thought”:   Symphonies # 4, 7, 8 led to absolute music in the classical forms (conservative)    Brahms:  Symphonies #1-4 (absolute music, 4 mvmt form, no excessive displays of soloistic      virtuosity)    Schubert:  Unfinished Symphony    Mendelssohn:  Italian Symphony, Scotch Symphony    Bruckner:  Symphonies 1-8 (4 mvmt form)   Symphonies # 5, 6, 9 led to program music and unconventional forms (radical)    R. Strauss and F. Liszt (Hamlet) – tone poems    Berlioz:  Symphonie Fantastique (1830) – idee fixe – recurrence of a theme throughout a work      (occurs in all five mvmts of Symphonie Fantastique) ROMANTIC PERIOD: Romantic Style:     Classical Style: Nationalism     Universal Musical Language   Emphasis on qualities of strangeness and remoteness  Symmetry and Balance Seeks to transcend time (eternity Freedom, passion, movement Intentional obscurity (Beethoven: Sym #3 – 6 themes)  Allusion and symbol (tone poems) Merging of arts (poetry, plastic arts and music (Wagner)) Flood om impressions, thoughts, feelings Goal:  communicate emotion (instrumental music unfettered   By text best to do this with) Program Music (1st was Beethoven #6 “Pastoral” with its   Descriptive program involving country life) Had to reach musically uneducated middle-class inorder to Patronage System (expect Beethoven and Mozart later years)  Survive Composer as priest and poet bearing his soul and revealing  The deeper meaning of life through music Accent on the individual    International Musical Language Composer:  A Heroic figure struggling against a hostile  Patronage System  Environment Age of Virtuoso Musician (Paganini, Liszt) Nature idealized (Schumann’s Spring Symphony) Fascination with supernatural Nationalism versus socialist movements (Marx and Engels:  Communist Manifesto (1848) Exoticism (foreign influences – esp, Asia and Turkey) Enfindsamer Stil (Sturm und Drang) – early pangs of   Romanticism Chromaticism Distant Modulations Expanded Orchestral Color (and expanded orchestra) Tonal Ambiguity Chromatic Third Relationships

Liszt:  Symphonic Poems  One movement works with a programmatic (often literary) element  Cyclic treatment of themes  Hamlet Grand Opera:  (c. 1830) (France)  Emphasis on spectacle to “sell product” to the mass middle class audience taking over the concert hall  Large chorus and cast  Extensive set  Meyerbeer:  Les Huguenots and Rossini:  William Tell Lyric Opera:  (1860-)  Lyric melody with Romantic drama or fantasy plot  Smaller scale than grand opera, but larger than opera comique  All lines sung (no spoken dialogue)
 Plot more serious than opera comique  Bizet:  Carmen  Gounod:  Faust Verdi:  refinement of Italian opera tradition             Opera as human drama             Form:  4 main divisions (either 4 acts or 3 acts with a proloque)             Elemental emotional force with balance and clarity             Operas: Il Trovatore   La Traviata   Aida   Nabucco   Falstaff   Otello   Rigoletto Schubert (1797-1828):  Lieder:    classical serenity and poise   Suspends tonality in long passages (hovers between major and minor triad quality)   Chromatic coloring within a diatonic context   Modulations to mediant and submediant   Accompaniment depicts text:      Erlkonig (octaves in piano represent horse galloping)    Gretchen am Spinnrad (accompaniment suggests whir of spinning wheel)   Wrote over 600 Lieder (some on texts by Goethe)   Song cycles:  Der Winterreise (1827) and Die Schone Mullerin (1823)   Successors to Schubert’s Lieder:   Robert Schumann:  Liebeslied, Op. 51 (more romantic in lyric quality and harmonic color than Schubert)   Johannes Brahms:  Wiegenlied (reflective style – accompaniments rarely pictoral) Richard Wagner (1813-1883):  Significance:  1) brought German Romantic Opera to its consummation (like Verdi with Italian Opera)    2) created a new form:  Music Drama    3) harmonic idiom of late works led towards the dissolution of classical tonality  Importance of music – to serve the ends of dramatic expression  Operas: Der Fliegend Hollander (The flying Dutchman) (Romantic Opera based on legend)   Rienzi (5 Act Grand Opera)   Tannhauser   Lohengrin   Parsifal   Tristan und Isolde  Der Ring des Nibelungen:   Das Rheingold   Die Walkure   Siegfried   Gotterdammerung  Ideals:  1) absolute oneness of music and drama   2) instrumental music portrays the “inner life” (leading to expressionism)   3) sung words express the “outer life” of particular situations and events    4) music continues throughout each act (not divided into recitatives, arias or other set numbers)  Two Principle Means of Achieving Articulation and Formal Coherence: 1) leitmotif:  a musical theme or motive associated with a particular person, thing or idea in the drama 2) Acts written in sections or periods (each in a disguised but recognizable pattern such as AAB (bar form) or ABA (arch form)). Tristan Und Isolde:  Tonal Ambiguity (tonality of work in E Major, but begins in A Major – Ends in B Major (key polarized    between the subdominant and dominant (in fact, E Major is heard very little in the score)))  Extreme Chromaticism:  Prelude modulates every phrase  Telescoping of Resolutions (one key resolves at the point another begins)  Blurring of progressions through suspensions and other non-harmonic tones Gesamstkunstwerk (universal art-work):  words, stage setting, visible action and music all working in closest harmony  toward the central dramatic pupose  Wagner noted for use of mythology and symbolism Gustav Mahler: 1) Joins sophistication with simplicity (Austrian folk song, dance rhythms, chorale themes, marches) 2) Juxtaposes vocal (solo and chorus) with orchestra in symphonies 3) Practice of ending a symphony in a key other than the one it began in 4) Freely transfers motives from one movement to another (but not to the extent of being cyclic) 5) Expanded Romantic symphony and symphony-oratorio to their final point of dissolution 6) Last in the line of German symphonists extending from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Bruckner)



Richard Strauss:  1) Best known form his tone poems (Also Sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan, Til Eulenspiel) and operas (Salome, Elektra) 2) Tone poems from the tradition of Berlioz and Liszt 3) Also Sprach Zarathustra (Nietsche text) (1896) – fugue theme contains all twelve tones 4) Salome (libretto based on Oscar Wilde’s decadent version of the Biblical Story) 5) Elektra – all harmony stems out of a single germinal chord Claude Debussy:   Pelleas et Melidande (symbolism)   Veiled allusions and images of text   Modal harmonies   Subdued orchestral colors   Restrained expressiveness of music   Continuous orchestral background   Instrumental interludes connecting the scenes carry on the mysterious inner course of the drama Oliver Messiaen: 1) Various scales or modes of eight tones to the octaves consisting of alternating half and whole steps in various    combinations 2) Rhythmic Pedals – not lining up with melody (like isorhythm) 3) Add Rhythmic values resulting in assymetric patterns 4) Rhythmic pallendromes 5) Augmentation and diminution of melodic line 6) Use of Rhythms derived from Indian Talas 7) Complex vertical sound-aggregations (chords) 8) “bird songs”       











Amy Dunker Associate Professor of Music Clarke College 1550 Clarke Drive Dubuque, IA  52001

www.amydunker.com