c



 


 

Giuseppe Verdi (1831-1901). Verdiǯs works could not be considered music drama.
There is no speaking in Verdiǯs work. Nationalism (special kind).

iva Vittorio
mmanuele
e
ǯ
talia

After the 1850s there was an effort to create a unified itality; northern italy was
dominated by austrians and italians wanted them out of there. Verdi emerged as
the symbol that would take them out. Verdi was the most popular composer at the
time. Symbols like above (VERDI) had to go past the censors. Verdi was not
apolitical; he was political. He became a member of parliament and served for a few
years. He became a figure that embodied the ideals of independence and unification
in italy.

Librettos and problems with censors. One of the problems with his librettos is that
he portrays mistreatment of women and people who commit bad deeds do not
suffer the consequences. Sometimes his works had to be censored to get them
published.

One of the most important things about Verdi is that he will follow the aesthetics of
bel canto. What is the implications of a bel canto style? Establishes a supremacy of
the singer over the orchestra; literally translates to Dzbeautiful singing.dz However, in
Verdi, the orchestra plays an integral role.

Parigi o, cara. We watched on youtube in class. There is a development, just as in

Rossini, of a double aria. Verdi creates a form that is somewhat simple AABB, but
the cabaletta has a little bit of a ternary element (ternary meter). What is your
reaction to this style of composing/setting of the words? How many of you can have
a conversation of two people speaking at the same time and make it
understandable? This is part of the genius of Verdi. He can put four characters
singing completely different emotional states/different texts and use an incredible
counterpoint so that you can hear everything. Verdi and Mozart could do this.

Do you have any thoughts about the structure of the Aria? What characterizes the
difference between the first portion of this aria and the second? AKA why would
you label the form as AABB?
Key change to Aflat Major
 If you go to the words on page 791. There is a contrast between what is said
in the first section and the second. Verdi changes the musical content to reflect the
emotional state of the text. It is in details like this that the music is extremely
successful. This is key in Verdiǯs music- the way he creates the musical environment
to portray the text. Rossini did this also, but not as good.
The first section is more diatonic and the second is more chromatic.

How are we to understand the work and its power in history? We have to start from
the most economic aspect of the work (what is it that it tells me exactly) and from
there we can expand it little by little. Why donǯt we do Puchinni in this class?
Because he doesnǯt like Puchinni.



Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and the controversy on the concept of absolute
music.

There are individuals in music history whose power of expression and tour de force
over output makes them outstanding compared to others in their period. Brahms,
by the late part of his life, was the most outstanding formal composer.

Background
1846: Wagnerǯs programmatic review of Beethovenǯs Ninth in Dresden: DzWith this
opening of the last movement Beethovenǯs music takes on a more definitely
speaking character: it quits the mold of purely instrumental music [absolute music],
observed in all the three preceding movements, the mode of the infinite, indefinite
expression; the musical poem is urging toward a crisis, a crisis only to be voiced in
human speech.dz In ]
  
  251-52

Wagner discussed the concept of absolute music on several occasions

1849: The Artwork of the Future
1851: Music and Drama
1870: Beethoven essay

Several others adopted Wagnerǯs discourse about the Music of the Future, often with
nationalistic overtones. They didnǯt want the composer to be bound by
preconceived forms, but instead by a poetic impulse/poetic influence. For some,
this music became intrinsically Germanic. donǯt forget to go to the Thursday lecture
at the Hilel, and Friday at the friends of music room.

1854 is a turning point

Hanslick:  
 
  (1854), a treatise on musical aesthetics that
defends precisely the works that Wagnerians were attacking: DzIts nature of music is
specifically musical. By this we mean that the beautiful is not contingent upon nor
in need of any subject introduced from without, but that it consists wholly of sounds
artistically combined.dz

Brahms participated in the debate over absolute music.

Handout:    !"



The harmonization here could be interpreted in two ways at least (A minor / E

minor as seen on handout). This is a central element of ambiguity: a central
progression of the piece could be interpreted in two different ways harmonically.
You will read quite frequently that the forth movement could be understood in
sonata form. If we are to see it as sonata form, we have to adjust what we
understand as sonata form. It is more in Dzsonata styledz than Dzsonata form.dz The
handout has an outline of the work in sonata form. Listen to the work in two ways:
first as a passacaglia, second as sonata form.

#$ 

Brahms music was described as neo-classical. People say it was too

cerebral/calculated. Specifically, his cello sonata in F major. Concentrate on the
phrasing and structure when listening to the cello sonata. What has happened to
the anticedent and consequent phrases? The cello enters with a pick up note to beat
3 and there is a short motivic figure, the next statements of the figure are mirrored
and expanded. This is characteristic of the way Brahms presents his themes in all of
his works. Shoerumberg called this Dzdeveloping variations.dz Mozart did not use
developing variations, neither did Wagner.

Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Why do we study Strauss? We tend to consider

Richard Strauss as a Post-Romantic composer (sometimes referred to as a post-
Wagnerian composer). What does it mean to be post-romantic? Response to and
elaboration on Romantic music.

Main contributions:
Composed for virtually all genres
Tone poems
Operas
Songs
Conducting
Orchestration (Klangfarbenmelodie Ȃ tonal color melody; in text)

Main issues:
Wagnerian or non-Wagnerian? If yes, how? If not, how? His early works were
influenced by Brahms, they were chamber music similar to that of Brahms. Then, he
later becomes Wagnerian, as seen in his tone poems. His tone poems are
Wagnerian.
Opera: Juxtaposed contradictions
CF. Salome- think about what you hear in the music vs what you see in the
video. It is the most gruesome scene you could ever see, yet at the same time it is
the most beautiful music. Why do you think he would do something that is, on the
surface, contradictory?
Orientalism- (quotation on Friday) (seen in Friday notes)

We watched the love scene of Salome in class. DzStrauss Salome final scene pt 2 or 3dz
on youtube.

%
 

Richard Strauss continued.

Some of you said that Beethoven was ironic in your papers. What is Romantic
irony? (Defining characteristics) One of the basic definitions Dzjuxtaposed
contradictionsdz the juxtaposition of incongruent elements; elements that do not
necessarily go together, but they are forced together upon the listener. Often, irony
conveys a sort of truth that is not immediately apparent. To a certain extent, that is
not a very romantic element. We see this ironic element in Strauss Salome (youtube
video shown in class). We see what could be the most romantic sort of experience
one could haveȄthe experience of love and a kiss, and the music speaks to that. Bit
look at the context. She is kissing a severed head. It makes you realize something is
not working quite right here. This contradiction was intentional, it was meant to
shock. This is why we call him post-Wagnerian; heǯs using Wagnerian elements
(kiss matching with the music) but heǯs combining them with the strange shocking
context.

Things that were going on: Einsteins theory of relativity, Freudǯs study of dreams,
etc.

Are we experiencing a shift in the way we think about music/art in this time?

Strauss: DzI had long found it a fault in Oriental and Hebrew operas that they lacked
the authentic Eastern color and vibrant sunshine. Necessity inspired me with a truly
exotic harmony, which shimmered, especially in the strange cadences, like
iridescent silk. My desire for sharpest delineation of character led me to bitonality,
since purely rhythmic characterization, of the kind Mozart uses with the utmost
mastery, did not seem strong enough for such opposites as Harod and Nazarene. It
may be thought of as a unique experiment with special material but ought not to be
held up as an example for imitation.dz Problems with this: What is authentic?
He wants us to understand Straussǯ work as contradictory. Also, remember that he
had distinct stages. Strauss began as Brahmsian, then Wagnerian, then post-
Wagnerian. In the post-Wagnerian stage he was very sarcastic of Wagnerian ideas.

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

We cannot understand Mahlerǯs music unless we address the philosophy that lies
behind the work.

When he assumed the Vienna position in the 1890s, he had to convert to Catholicism
(From Judism). Vienna was a very liberal place at the time. Carol Schokeǯs DzFin de
Siecle Viennadz one of the most fantastic uses of the English language.

Main contributions of Mahler

Conducting
Orchestration
Symphonies.
*Philosophical content-
Programmatic or not?

Adorno: Ä (breakthrough)

  
. Think of a shift in 19th century thinking in terms of counterpoint

and tonality (Richard Strauss was a master of counterpoint). On the basis of your
knowledge of counterpoint, you know you cannot do perfect fifths and parallel
octaves. When you use perfect fifths/octave, the tones blend and seem to disappear.
next class: think about this piece, how is it more modern than other works?

&  

He played a Mahler excerpt and asked us to find 3 different types of textures.

1. Pastoral- the symphony starts with a pastoral section
2. Call-and-response
3. Fanfare- often 2 harps and brass being introduced
For Mahler, this texture had a tremendous significance, which had to do with his
philosophy. He cared about metaphysics. This is evident in his symphonies (esp. 1-
4).

Expanded on DzMain Contributionsdz slide from last class

Main contributions of Mahler
Conducting
Orchestration
Symphonies.
*Philosophical content-
Programmatic or not?
Adorno: Ä (breakthrough)- Why do we use the German word for
breakthrough? In German, it has different connotations; the English word for
breakthrough is more limited in its symbolic meaning. The Green brothers wrote a
dictionary of German words that describes how the words are used.
DzBreakthroughdz works in the 19th century in Germany, got stuck in a Ǯdominantǯ area
for a long time, and then a resolution seems to come out of nowhere.
Adorno was one of the most important 19th century philosophers/thinkers.
He knew the significance of Mahler. He read an excerpt from Adornoǯs book.
Summary: If the composer intends for his music to convey certain ideas, these ideas
are materials of the music, but the music transcends them. Basically, if you write a
program for the music, it limits peoples understanding of the music to what is in the
program. If you understand the music, you wonǯt need the program. He says
Mahlerǯs music has the ability to convey thought. The audience can think of the
meaning of Mahlerǯs music based on the emotions they feel from the music; they do
not need a program.

He talked about the hand-out with Kindertotenlieder in it/he read an excerpt from
the anthology about Kindertotenlieder. Kinder = Children / Toten = Dead / Lieder =
Song. Songs for the dead children. Think about the very beginning in terms of its
structural components/in terms of its counterpoint. He breaks rules of voice
leading/uses parallel 5ths and octaves. DzWhen you create parallel octaves, you no
longer have independent voices and counterpoint ceases to exist.dz We are not going
to question the quality of Mahlers music; that would be silly. Instead, we try to
understand why the music is the way it is.

In Kindertotenlieder, listen to the dichotomy between Night/Day; Life/Death;

Inner/Outer(the concept of: it happens to me but not to others); things that were
essential to Wagnerian thought.

Concludes: Mahler is most successful in, through his music, causing you to think
about these Wagnerian ideas.

$ 

DzMahler was the last great Romantic Austrian composer.dz (From the Music
Appreciation textbook). He mocks this statement; Mahler was neither Romantic nor
can we say he was the last great composer (another rant about superlatives).

We looked at two Dzgreatdz post-romantic composers. Strauss and Mahler. We are to

draw a certain conclusion as to their significance in music history. How Romantic
are these composers and how unromantic are they/how Wagnerian/unwagnerian?
Base your answer on specific excerpts we go over in class. The first few measures of
Kindertotenlieder=Wagnerian (as shown above; contrast between night/day
life/death etc). Also, the contrast in in Straussǯ Opera (beautiful singing/gruesome
scene).

He played a passage from Symphonic Poem. This passage is unique; it was

composed before the 20th century. Is it Wagnerian? No, Wagner would not have
been able to conceive such a piece. There isnǯt a single passage in any of Wagnerǯs
work that is anything like this. This work is post-Romantic and it points toward a
musical transformation that leaves the Romantic behind. It is not
enlightening/helpful to us to label this music as romantic/post-romantic. Look at
the music itself, instead. Remember, Kindertotenliederǯs counterpoint doesnǯt fit to
what weǯve seen before. Try to understand this, without applying labels.

He showed artwork from Man Ray. He points out that Ray uses geometric shapes to
portray the human form. He showed artwork from Max Weber. Weber was a very
prominent composer. Artwork from e.e. cummings. There is a transformation that
occurs in terms of the materials and subject matter that is represented in paintings.

DeBussy: DzI have no faith in the supremacy of the C major scale. The tonal scale
must be enriched by other scales. Nor am I misled by equal temperament. Rhythms
are stifling. Rhythms cannot be contained within bars. It is nonsense to speak of
Dzsimpledz and Dzcompounddz time. There should be an interminable flow of both.
Relative keys are nonsense, too. Music is neither major nor minor. Minor thirds and
major thirds should be combined, modulation thus becomes more flexible. The
mode is that which one happens to choose at the moment. It is inconstant. There
must be a balance between musical demands and thematic evocation. Themes
suggest there orchestra coloring.dz

Instead of using the diatonic scale, Debussy used the octotonic/pentatonic scales
(that altenates halfsteps/whole steps). He used unresolved tritones. Buy the new
anthology, we will have score identification on the next exam.

He played Debussyǯs _. In the beginning, you can hear the octotonic, and a tritone.
How do the harmonies he uses compare to the harmonies of Wagner? It sounds
completely different. There isnǯt the romantic pathos of intensification (intense
pressing on dominant to resolve). He uses plagual cadences (which lack Dzoomphdz).
There is no tonic-dominant relationship, because he uses the octotonic scale. This is
not 19th century music (as in it did away with traditions used in other 19th century
music).

'
 

Amy Beach (1867-1944) Weǯre shifting gears and getting out of
Europe/Bramsian/Wagnerian traditions. A lot of people say that there are a lot of
references to Brahms in Amy Beach. We are going to challenge that today. The
textbook does not do much justice to Amy Beach, we only have 3 short paragraphs
about her. DzAnother Boston composer.dz She was an eighteen year old who injured
her handle. She saw Dr. Beach who was a surgeon of Harvard university/was a
widow. They fell in love. He was 25 years older than her (and her father). They got
married. She was a piano virtuoso, he suggested that she stop her performance
career and dedicate herself to composition. Thatǯs what she did. She studied the
works of other composers ferociously. We can say that she taught herself to
compose. She got a lot of money when Dr. Beach died (and she was still young and
free to travel the world). She didnǯt have financial problems and was able to pay
musicians to play her works

If you go to the music library/Oxford music online there is a list of works she
composed. Her output counts to over 150 works with opus number.

We talked about the social conditions for women during the time. Carl Emil
Seashore quote È$ (
 $ !  
)%*)+, -.

DzList without elaboration some of the issues involved, proceeding by process of
eliminationdz DzLists: Native talent; intelligence, musical temperament, creative
imagination, music precocity, education, emancipation of women, marriage,
endurance; to reach.dz We say that these are all flawed.

Theories of Urges: DzWomenǯs fundamental urge is to be beautiful, loved, and adored

as a person; menǯs urge is to provide and achieve in a career.dz Its interesting in
terms of Amy Beachǯs own life. What are we to make of this?She defied the
stereotypes by going against the preconceived views that women were not as good
at mathematics and abstract thinking/they were not as good at writing long music,
just short songs.

Beachǯs output

Includes numerous songs as well as large scale works such as:

Mass in E
@
 
Violin Sonata
Piano Concerto
Piano Quintet
Her Gaelic Symphony made her Dzone of the boys.dz in the nineteenth century.

Two Works we will look at today

Symphony Op. 32 DzGaelicdz
Fashionable to use Irish themes after Dvorakǯs visit to the US.
Prelude and Fugue
Large-scale composition, using all elements of learned style (subject in
stretto, augmented, diminished, by inversion, etc.)
Synthesis of tone-poem and learned style?
There is one aspect that he is going to ask us. Is this work Brahmsian?He
wouldnǯt discout the echos of Brahms (butultimately he implys he doesnǯt think its
Brahmsian). He played an excerpt from it in class.

My battery died at this point so the rest of todayǯs notes are kind of weak as Iǯm
filling them in from memory.

Santos rants on the topic of comparing Amy Beach to Brahms. Amy beach studied
everyone (composers). He says all composers were influenced by others (he gives
example Beethoven was influenced by Haydn). She mastered the art of composition
and it is not fair to her to look at her music solely in terms of Brahms influence.

What sort of structure is the Prelude, in the Prelude in fugue? A prelude, obviously.
The prelude is a Dzfree-flowing form.dz This prelude uses a melody/accompaniment in
a style that is similar to Liszt. Is the harmonic language of this Prelude more similar
to Brahms or Beethoven? Brahms. Beethoven is more classical; uses less
chromaticism.

The fugue. Dos santos says he does not know of any other works that are similar to
the fugue; it is very unique. Had compositional techniques that were said to be too
difficult for female composers (stretto and augmented/diminished by inversion.)
This is Dzdefinitely a 20th century work.dz

What distinguishes Amy Beachǯs Prelude/Fugue from other Prelude/Fugues? It is a

synthesis of Prelude/Fugue and Tone poem.

He says to look at her Piano Quintet and her Grove entry.

/&  

The history of music in the beginning of the 20th century may be understood as a
conflict between the aesthetics of Schoenberg and Stravinski. This week is
Schoenberg, next week is Stravinski. There are very few composers in history
whose music has caused a paradigm shift. What is a paradigm shift? A different
approach to music and a different meaning for music as well. Schoenberg caused a
paradigm shift. We watched a video where Schoenberg talked about the logic
behind his musical structures/musical coherence.
He shows a self portrait by Schoenberg. How would you compare it to the paintings
we saw before? Not meant to be realistically drawn/painted. Expression of the
inner self/shape=Expressionism.

What are we to consider about Schoenberg?

Composer-
Style and idea
Concerned about logic behind musical structures.
Teacher-
Created DzSecond Viennese Schooldz a composition school. What is the first
Viennese School? Style Gallant, Mozart/Haydn/Early Beethoven.
In America- came to US 1933, taught many composers.
Writer
Hundred of essays on music and aesthetics. Many are still unpublished.
Theorist-
Treatise of Harmony (1911)
Emancipation of Dissonances (ca. 1908)- If composers are no longer
concerned with resolutions and strict treatment of dissonances, we might as well
treat dissonances as any other sound.
Twelve-Tone Composition

Three creative periods:

Up to ca. 1908: Tonal from Wagnerian to Brahmsian. Still concerned with Tonality
String Quartet, Op 7; Chamber Symphony Op. 9. He played a excerpt of the
first movement of Op 7. How similar would this be to Beethovenǯs Op 133? Its
unified, the whole thing (4mvts) can be understood as a large sonata form.

1908-1923: Atonal (Schoenberg preferred Dzpantonaldz

Erwartung, op. 17; Pierrot Lunaire Op. 21
1923-1951: Twelve-tone period
(1921: DzI have discovered a method of composing with twelve-tones related
to one anotherdz
Piano Suite Op. 25; Violin and Piano Concerto

He gave us two handouts; a score to Nacht and a discussion of Nacht. Schoenberg

had to create strategies for creating music that would be coherent/had a sound
structure. We listen to the first 5 measures of DzNacht.dz The first 3 notes, minor third
to major third, generates the theme for the rest of the piece and captures the
essence of the piece as a whole. Page 85, final measure. He creates a srting of
minr/major thirds and the inner voices become chromatic. This is a sort of
rendering of the idea he gave at the beginning- ideas are constantly formed and then
varied. What would you call this technique?Developing variations.



Talked about Amy Beach, from her article on grove music online and mocked the
ridiculous statements about her genius. He says be suspicious about what you read.

We look at Schoenbergǯs Op. 25 (handout), starting with the Minuet. He says this is
going to be on our exam; we listen to it 10 times and think about it. Remember you
cannot like or dislike the piece, you can just think about it. Think about the thematic
shift. We are going to understand this piece from a structural perspective. What are
the governing principles of this piece/How can we understand them?

The piece, like any other minuet, is divided into three sections. You could say it is in
a rounded binary form. There is a five measure transition that goes to measure 17.
After measure 17 there is a recapitulation. Measure 28 on is a sort of a coda. In the
handout, he placed the Dzrow set.dz

What is one of the preconditions for twelve-tone compositions? You use all 12 tones
before you play the first tone again. Schoenberg wanted to use the tone row as the
harmonic and melodic basis for the music. Why didnǯt he start the Minuet with the
first tetrachord (he started it, instead, with the second tetrachord, out of 3)? Look at
the second tetrachord, what is the inherent property of it? Inner relationships
between minor seconds. Eflat to D (1st measure) then later D to Eflat in measure
four creates a sense of cadence; symmetry that leads to closure. He later switches
the relationship to Eflat to Dflat, focusing the piece on whole-tone relationship.
Then, he comes back to Eflat and D (semi-tone), and A/Bflat measure 26. When you
hear A to Bflat, it is cadential. Retrograde/inverse tetrachords unify the piece.

He reads a quote from Schoenberg. The relationship/proximity between tones

create, psychologically, the impact of these tones as they were used in the past. One
of the main purposes of a Dztwelve-tone method of composingdz was to give guidelines
to atonal music. Twelve-tone method assures that the piece has coherence as a
whole.

Exam moved back 1 week.

&  

Guest speaker: Expressionism and Opera.

Expressionism (1905-1920), Primarily focused in Germany and Austria.

Musical characteristics of expressionism; exaggerated gestures, angular melodies,

dissonance (atonality) outpouring of Dzemotions,.dz It grew out of artist/musician
circles in Germany and Austria.
Today is focused on Alban Berg (1885-1935). He wrote Wozzeck, Lyric Suite, Lulu,
Violion Concerto. He studied at the second Viennese school and learned from
Schoenberg. Like Schoenberg, he has a period of tonal, period of atonal, and period
of twelve-tone. He is known for his Dzlushdz sound. Also, Berg will use pitch sets to
represent characters. He will take a twelve-tone row and use it to represent a
character. Berg links movements/sections with rhythmic gestures, pitch class
gestures, formal gestures etc (Y from worksheet). He puts a lot of
autobiographical information in his works; through characters/coding of musical
gestures.

Wozzeck is an opera based on the play Woyzeck. The play is about a man of lower
class, Woyzeck, who is described as easily manipulated. There are two main
antagonists who mess with him; a doctor and a soldier captain (upper class men).
The doctor does experiments on Woyzeck. Woyzeck also has a common-law wife
with whom he has a child. Woyzeck is eventually drawn into insanity by the
doctor/soldier and kills his common-law wife. The Opera was written after World
War I. Berg was an office-worker in World War I and he was affected by the notion
of upper-class military men affecting the lives of others.

Did Berg Dzreform opera? DzI simply wanted to compose good music; to develop
musically the contents of Georg Buchnerǯs immortal drama; to translate his poetic
language into music. Other than that, when I decided to write an opera, my only
intention, as related to the technique of composition, was to give the theatre what
belongs to the theatre. The music was formed that each moment should fulfill its
duty of serving the actionǥdz ȂBerg.

DzBerg is going to be on the examdz

$ #

Igor Stravinsky Ȃ DzThe Russian Perioddz

Adornoǯs (theorist) view: Shoenberg represents progress in music; Stravinsky

represents regression and everything that prevents the progress of music.

Three Creative Periods:

up to ca 1919: the Russian period. Called Russian period because he used
Russian/folk materials and wrote his most famous works: Fire Bird, Petrushka, The
Rite of Spring; Les Noces
1919 to 1951: Neoclassical. His music restored the simplicity of the classical
period. Pcinella, Octet for Winds, Symphony of Psalms, Symphony in C, The Rakeǯs
Progress (last work as Neoclassical).
After 1951: Serial. Becomes 12-tone composer, but he hated shoenberg.
What happened in 1951 to cause Stravinsky to change his title? Shoenberg died. He
analyzed the work of shoenberg and was impressed.
There was a riot at the premiere of the rite of spring. In looking at stravinskys
music, there are several factors that contributed to the sort of reaction people had.
(he implies this was caused by expectations from the tradition of ballet) How would
you compare the ballet portion of rite of spring to the nutcracker? Nutcracker
sounds sophisticated and refined; rite of spring sounds primitive/dzprimal.dz

Some elements of style particular to Stravinsky. The treatment of motives.

Sometimes he will use cyclic motives that keep repeating, instead of developing
them. This contrasts Brahms who used developing motives. Layering of lines.
Instead of developing motives, he juxtaposed them over other motives.
motivic construction
layering of lines
orchestra treated as a percussion instrument
octatonic scales

The sacrificial dance at the end of the rite of spring. If you look at the score, the
entire orchestra is treated as a percussive instrument.

Friday: Neoclassicism / The Symphony of Psalms


 /

(i was hungover and didnǯt have my computer today, so these notes blow are still
fucking amazing.)

Stravinsky: Neoclassicism and the American Experience

During the Russian period, Stravinsky was among the least formal composers.
There is a major shift in his compositional practices in 1919; the end of his DzRussian
perioddz and the beginning of his DzNeoclassical period.dz What happened in 1919 that
could have influenced this shift? WW1 ended in 1989. France, as a nation, was
heavily damaged and was reevaluating things. French music moved away from the
Dzemotional outpouringdz in their music that had become common, and toward a more
Dzlogical presentationdz of the music. He gives this example: Rite of Spring (Russian
period, pre 1919) can be seen as an expansion of Romantic elements in music;
Pulcinella (Neoclassical period) can be seen as a move back toward
periodicity/logical/classical elements in music.

Why do we call this music DzNeodzclassical? Why not just classical? The neo does not
simply mean new. Neoclassical music is different from classical music. When
something is Dzneodz it means people looked back at something from the past and
revisited it with new materials. Stravinskys music uses some elements of classical
music (periodicity/form), but combines them with new/different compositional
techniques (different instrumentation/tonality/harmonies)
We looked at the score for     and listened to it. There are
three sections to this piece.
First: Sinfonia in sonata form. The sonata form/periodicity is the classical
element. The piece pens w/ bassoon trills which is not classical.
Second: Tema con variazione. Theme and variations.
Third: Finale. This piece uses counterpoint heavily. Dos Santos makes the
counterpoint connection to Bach.

Elements that are classical: Form/Periodicity etc

Elements that are not classical: Layering of voices, Octotonic scale ect

Dos Santos reads an Aaron Copland quote which criticizes Stravinsky for his change
to the neoclassical style. We note that his new style was not very well received. Dos
santos says that people had begun to expect Stravinskys music to shock them (as the
Rite of Spring had)ǥ so the classical sound of his new music was not what they
expected. DzThe lack of shock was shockingdz

Dos Santons reads a Stravinsky quote. DzExpression is not an inherent property of

music.dz DzExpression is not the purpose of music.dz DzMusic is powerless to expression
emotion.dz Santos notes how similar this view is to the view expressed by Hanslick
in his treatise Dz 
 
  dz (1854). (its in the notes. ctrl+F 1854)

Handout: DzThe New Objectivitydz (Stravinsky). dos santos: DzStravinsky describes his
music in a very objective mannerdz (I didnǯt read this shit, so I have nothing to add)

We listened to the Symphony of Psalms. This is another one of Stravinskys

Dzneoclassicaldz works. Tonality is not Dzestablisheddz over time in the work.. it is
simply given to you immediately. Psalm text (latin). DzIn terms of organizing
materials/layering voices, and its use of the octotonic scale, it is not classical.dz
Stravinsky moves to America in the late 1930s and gets his shit rocked in a bar-fight.

&  

Quiz on developing variations (coined by Shoenburg, used by Brahms).
Score ID will come from the anthology.

Bela Bartok

In many areas, he was one of the first pioneers of ethnomusicology. He went on

trips to collect folk songs. He had a sense of ardent nationalism; he wanted to claim
all of the elements that were particularly Hungarian. DzThe spirit of a people lies in
the folk.dz Collection of Serbo-Croatian songs in 1951.

He was also a virtuoso pianist who made his living teaching piano and performing.
We know him as a composer. Bartok himself would not have seen himself as a
composer. He was first and foremost a pianist/performer. For him, composition
was a side thing.

Why is it a necessity to look at former times/dzhave your roots in the art of some
former timesdz?

Consider this statement DzFor an artist it is not only right to have his roots in the art
of some former times, it is a necessity. Well, in our case it is peasant music which
holds our rootsǥ folk music must for us replace the remains of our old music. A
German musician will be able to find in Bach and Beethoven what we have had to
search for in our villages: the continuity of a national musical traditionǥ the
outcome of these studies was a decisive influence upon my work, because it freed
me from the tyrannical rule of the major and minor keys.dz -Bartok

Bartok used tetrachords which were common in folk music, not western music, in
his composition.

Works:
Song Collection- Collecting songs from Slavic peasants (ca 1907).

DzMusic for Strings, Percussion and Celestadz Formally, its like a palindrome. A B C B
A. It is not a Dzperfect palindromedz obviously, but it is symmetrical in its form. Uses
Ǯpizzicato Bartokǯ.

measure 5, A section; measure 20, B section; measure 35, C section;

He said he might use a single beep as a listening question on the exam. If he does,
the piece is Bartok Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

He will send us a couple of youtube videos of bartok