Romanticism What is it?

? o o o o Transformation of the everyday into something remote, strange, or exotic Appreciation for wildness and irregularity, especially in nature Boundlessness, in terms of transcendence or merging of the Arts Use of romantic dualities Close juxtaposition of oppositional ideas

First Berlin School o o Established by Christian Gottlieb Krause 1719-1770 In Vonder musikalischen Poesie 1752, laid out principles of what constituted a good art song Should be singable by amateurs Must express the meaning of the text Simple accompaniment Should be Volkstumlich folklike

Second Berline School 1770 o Follows many of the first berlin schools principles but intensified More complex rhythm, harmony, melody, and forms. (strophic and through composed Accompaniment becomes more important Good poetry imperative, and should be the primary focus of the song

Franz Shubert 1797-1828 o o Revolutionized the 91th century Lied Heightens poetic drama with engaging piano accompaniments and sensitive harmonization

Productivity: Traits: Increased importance of Piano (technically and expressively) Mediant and submediant (esp flat 6) are common secondary key areas Uses music to bring out texts inner meaning Subtle text painting techniques Excellent poetic sources 9 symphonies, 22 Piano sonatas, 35 Chamber works, 200+ choral works, over 600 Lieder

Classicism in Gretchen o Several simple ideas forming a more complex whole Straight forward harmonies Arpeggiated, triadic accomp Memorable melodic line Pictorial elements in music (the spinning wheel) Harmonic instability and registral shifts enhance emotional content of the text Progression of musical structure reflected in textual expressivity

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Robert Schumann 1810-1856 o o Pianist, composer, critic, lawyer Founded the journal Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik 1835 Best known for his piano works, Lieder, and 4 symphonies

Traits of Schumanns songs o o o o o o Warm expressive lyric melody, tinged with melancholy or longing Squareness and regularity of phrase Great sensitivity to texts meaning and declamation Near equality between voice and piano May have extended preludes, postludes, or interludes for piano Occasional technical demands on voice

What is a character piece? o o Movement from a cycle of piano pieces with a programmatic title and overtones Carnival, Papillons, Kinderscenen Good vehicle for improving technique and expanding harmonic rhythmic and melodic palettes

What is davidsbund? o The Band of David characters Schumann created to serve as rhetorical foils for his criticism and commentary Eusebius (youthful dreamer) Florestan (impetuous revolutionary) Raro (wise master) Robert Schumann (your guide)

Musical ciphers in Carnaval o o Cipher: the use of pitches to spell out (or imply) certain words Asch A, E-flat (=S), C, B = H.

Also sounds like ashe ashes or ash Wednesday Schumann SCHumAnn ASCH

Frederic Chopin 1810-1849 o o o Traits of Chopin o o o Delicate and refined, more suited for parlors than concert halls New levels of technique and virtuosity, emphasizing melodic line and chromatic harmony Harmonically very complex, including passages of harmonic parentheses Passages interrupting tonally coherent harmony with transitional chords linking one diatonic (or totally coherent) point with another Bron and raised in Poland, but achieves greatest fame in Paris Interest during his life stems in part from exoticism Posterity values his harmonic and technical innovations

Finances for Barber Rossini Rossini receives 400 scudi 20000 Others paid more 25K, 35K, 60K

Claque Groupies. Tenets of the Code Rossini o Rossini overture (usually sonatina form) Rossini crescendo: repetition of phrase at increasingly louder levels with larger orchestration Use of double aria Cantabile or cavatina: slow lyrical, and melodious; often shifts from M to m Tempo di mezzo: recitative w/ plot twist Cabaletta: Fast, fiery aria; second stanza often highly ornamented Three part duet F-S-F Usually ST, AB, SB, TB Note parallel with double aria, (S_F) = end of double aria (He, she, together) Ensemble finale: Musico-dramatic culmination of an act, alternating kinetic and static scenes Part 1: kinetic (action builds to climax) Part 2: Static (movement of stupefaction) Part 3: Kinetic-static (action rebuilds but quickly subsides, bringing scene to a close)

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Rossinis successors: Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti Weber 1786-1826 German Romantic Opera o o o o Aristocratic and lower class characters, the latter non-comic Typically a recent historical setting Portrays nature as wild, untamed, and furious, counter to 18c ideal Supernatural elements are present

Novel techniques in Der Freischutz o o o o Wolf Glens Scene o o o o o o o Opens in f#, modulates to c at samiels appearance Bullets 1&2 a minor Bullet 3 unstable Bb major Bullet 4 d minor Bullet 5 g minor Bullet 6 Ab major Bullet 7 c minor Recurring themes and motives associated with specific characters, emotions, or situations. Reminiscence music acts like a music calling card. Features a system of tonal-dramatic association o Specific keys are associated with certain abstract dramatic concepts Incorporates melodrama into scenes (spoken text above accompaniment)

Giuseppe Verdi 1813-1901 o o Verdis 3 period o o The Years in the Galley 1839-50 covers Oberto, Comte De San Boniface, to Luisa Miller Second period 1851-74 Rigoletto through the requiem Il Travatore and La Traviata 1853, Un Ballo in Maschera 1859, La Forza del destina 1862, Don Carlos 1866, Aida 1871 Third Period 1883-93 Only 2 new operas: Othello 1887, and Falstaff 1893 his only comic opera Dominant figure in Italian opera in the late 19c Almost singlehandedly changed the stylistic and business systems of Italian opera

Innovation in La Traviata o o o o Misc Verdiana o o International appeal means wide ranging difficulties with censors Financially independent by the 1850s Can be more choosy about commissions Goes into partial retirement by the 1870s Only major composer to be a farmer Requiem 1874 notable for its operatic quality Non-secco recitative in opening scene Rapid dialogue exchange in the tempo dattaco Cantabile portion of the 3 part duet is dramatically justified Music in tempo di mezzo and cabalettaa is similarly motivated Non showy cabaletta

Arrigo Boito Verdis librettist