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Outline
• What is romanticism in music? • Biography of L. van Beethoven Beethoven: Another Bach Fan Module 10 of Music: Under the Hood • Bach’s legacy • Commentary on Moonlight Sonata
John Hooker Carnegie Mellon University
Osher Course October 2018
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What Is Romanticism? What Is Romanticism?
• The standard musical periods are misleading • Baroque – Baroque, Classical, Romantic are inspired by art – Composers developed the musical language we use and literature. today – Music has its own developmental dynamic • While trying to solve the problems posed by an abstract medium. • “Ornamentation” appears in music but is incidental.
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What Is Romanticism? What Is Romanticism?
• Classical • Romantic – Abstract music simplified for easy listening – Does not mean music is “emotional” or “expressive” • Music borrowed one trait • These have been from the surrounding part of music Zeitgeist… since day one. • The classical style in music was universal across Europe • As inspired by the universalism of the Enlightenment
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What Is Romanticism? What Is Romanticism?
• Romantic • Romantic – Romantic music leaves behind the cult of simplicity – But Romantic music borrows two traits from its • Reintroduces counterpoint, development of motifs (as in fugues) cultural surroundings • Finds its own solution to • Focus on the logical structure. individual • Uses complex harmony, (or ethnic group). key relationships. • Interest in “nature” • Even moves beyond • Beethoven’s music tonality. is about him • Beethoven does all of – The “suffering artist” these, except the last. – He also explored natural sounds in Pastoral Symphony. Richard Wagner 7 8
Biography Biography
• Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827 • Early career – Father wanted him to be a child prodigy like Mozart – First published composition, age 12. • Poor teacher, alcoholic, punished son for missing notes. – Court organist in Köln, age 14. • Ludwig later studied with Gottlob Neefe, who taught him – Moved to Vienna, age 22 composition and introduced him to Bach. • Initially supported by Prince • Beethoven learned the Well-Tempered Maximillian Franz. Clavier from memory. • Studied with Haydn. • This influenced the rest of his career. • Obnoxious but widely admired. • Began to lose hearing, about age 28. • Contemplated suicide.
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Biography Biography
• Middle career • Late career – Eroica Symphony, age 35 – Missa Solemnis, age 53 • New type of symphony – 9th Symphony, same year. – Fidelio (opera), same year. • Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” •“O welche Lust,” hymn to in last movement freedom • One of the towering – Several symphonies achievements of Western music • Including Pastoral, No. 6, with sounds of nature – Late string quartets – Began receiving annual grant from royalty, age 39 • Pathbreaking music, • On condition he would not leave Vienna still challenging today
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Biography Biography
• Approach to composition & performance • Illness – Experimental, innovative – Chronic intestinal problems – Much rewriting – Deafness and roaring/buzzing in both ears, 24/7 • The opposite of – Liver disease Mozart. • Apparent cause – Overexpressive of death. playing – His music is about • Banged on the him… piano • But because his • Played either problems are very pp or ff human, it is about •Extreme everyone.
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Bach’s Legacy Bach’s Legacy
• Changing fashions • Bach’s influence on Beethoven – He was out of fashion after his death. – Development • People wanted easy listening. • Beethoven liked to develop short themes, as in a fugue. – Grandsons reportedly sold some of his • For example, 5th Symphony. manuscripts as wrapping paper. – Mendelssohn’s teacher reportedly found – Counterpoint St Matthew Passion in a cheese shop. • Beethoven strove to master counterpoint. – Others found manuscripts being used to wrap fruit trees. • Used fugues in some of his greatest works • But a few musicians retained interest in Bach, including – Hammerklavier piano sonata, Op 106 – C-sharp minor String Quartet, Op 131 (used in movie A Late Quartet) Beethoven’s teacher Gottlob Neefe. – The Great Fugue (string quartet, Op 133) th – Mendelssohn “rediscovered” Bach in early 19 c. – Moonlight Sonata…
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Moonlight Sonata Moonlight Sonata
• Nothing to do with moonlight • First movement Audio file – Sonata quasi una fantasia – Consists mainly of arpeggios • “Moonlight” was coined by a music critic after Beethoven’s • Although structure is conventional, the piece seems death. strikingly original. • A hit even in • Who would think of writing a piece consisting almost Beethoven’s entirely of arpeggiated chords? lifetime. • Said to be the most popular piano piece ever.
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Moonlight Sonata Moonlight Sonata
• First movement Audio file • First movement Audio file – Consists mainly of arpeggios – Actually a funeral march • Although structure is conventional, the piece seems • Signaled by “dotted” rhythms. strikingly original. • Compare with: • Who would think of writing a piece consisting almost entirely of arpeggiated chords? Marcia Funebre in Eroica Symphony Chopin’s Marche Funèbra • Someone did… Audio file: C major prelude, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 – Beethoven’s life ambition is seemingly dead • Another example of Bach’s influence
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Moonlight Sonata Moonlight Sonata
• Third movement Audio file • Third movement Audio file – Anger at the world. – Anger at the world. • Beethoven would have destroyed the piano playing this. • Beethoven would have destroyed the piano playing this. – Angry, but defiant – he refused to be defeated.
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