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Encore University ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE GREAT ROMANTIC COMPOSERS HST 423 ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM - INTRODUCTIONS Brian J. Isaac Conductor | Music Educator - Artistic Director, Alexandria Choral Society, Williamsburg Choral Guild, and Church Circle Singers - Managing Director, Arts Laureate - MM, Peabody Conservatory ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM - COURSE EXPECTATIONS ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE GREAT ROMANTIC COMPOSERS Week 1/2 A Brief Review of Music History / Music as Passion and Individualism, Schubert, Schumann, and the Early Romantic Lied, and Early “Popular” Song Week 3 Romantic and Programmatic Piano Music Week 4 Romantic Program Music Week 5/6 Absolute Music in the Romantic Era, Italian Romantic Opera Week 7 German Romantic Opera Week 8 Fauré and the Requiem ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM - WAGNER AND GERMAN ROMANTIC OPERA “Joy is not in things; it is in us.” - Richard Wagner Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) The Beginnings - Born in Leipzig, Germany - Found an early passion for Beethoven and Mozart - An 1829 performance by soprano Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient solidified his passion for combining drama/music - Studied briefly at University of Leipzig, and began conducting and composing - Married actress Minna Planer at 23 years old, began writing his first operas - After struggling financially and eventually fleeing his creditors in Riga, Wagner ends up in Dresden - His early opera Rienzi, finds great success in Dresden Richard Wagner Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient Minna Planer Rienzi ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM - WAGNER AND GERMAN ROMANTIC OPERA Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) The Dresden Years - Lives in Dresden for six years, appointed Royal Saxon Court Conductor - Composes The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, and Lohengrin Exile and Resurgence - Fled Germany after a failed revolution in Dresden in 1849, exiled to Switzerland - Solidified his theory of Gesamtkunstwerk or ‘total artwork’ - Began composing a cycle of music dramas called The Rings of the Nibelung - Famously began incorporating concise themes, or leitmotifs, into his works - Additionally began composing Tristan and Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Wagner’s exile is lifted in 1862, and he returns to Germany - Wagner is supported by Ludwig II of Bavaria who built a theater for Wagner’s works - Festival Theater of Bayreuth - Married daughter of Franz Liszt after separation from Minna Planer - The Ring cycle was completed in 1874, presented at the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876 Tannhäuser Tristan and Isolde Cosima Wagner The Rings of Nibelung ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM - WAGNER AND GERMAN ROMANTIC OPERA The Ring of the Nibelung - Based on Norse mythology and a medieval German epic poem Nibelungenlied - Centers on a treasure of gold hidden beneath the Rhine River protected by Rhine Maidens, and a rebuffed Dwarf whose curse seeks to bring misfortune and death to all who hold that treasure (which he had fashioned into a ring) - Die Walküre, the second work in the cycle focuses on the lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde, the offspring of Wotan by a mortal - Heavy use of leitmotif throughout - Act III famously opens with the Ride of the Valkyries - nine warrior maidens on their way from the battlefield back to Valhalla upon winged horses ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM - WEEK 7 ASSIGNMENT ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE GREAT ROMANTIC COMPOSERS Assignment for 10/29 LISTEN: Fauré: Requiem .
Recommended publications
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    lk a Waü GN r W , joNas k e e pe kY au r m iNs or f e ri C m i a a Val H k er e a m Y s N a t D j N G r N e , a r a r e G N i e é V p a p e , N i N a s t e e m m 2 Die Walküre Mariinsky Richard WAGNER / Рихард ВагнеР DISC 3 45’41” (1813–1883) Zweiter Aufzug – Act Two (conclusion) 1 xii. Schwer wiegt mir der Waffen Wucht / My load of armour weighs heavy on me p18 2’28” DiE WAlkÜRE 2 xiii. Dritte Szene: Raste nun hier, gönne dir Ruh’! / Scene Three: Do stop here, and take a rest p18 8’56” (ThE VAlkyRiE / ВалькиРия) 3 xiv. Wo bist du, Siegmund? / Where are you, Siegmund? p19 3’49” 4 xv. Vierte Szene: Siegmund! Sieh auf mich! / Scene Four: Siegmund, look at me p19 10’55” Siegmund / Зигмунд...................................................................................................................................Jonas KAUFMANN / Йонас Кауфман 5 xvi. Du sahst der Walküre sehrenden Blick / you have seen the Valkyrie’s searing glance p20 4’27” hunding / Хундинг................................. ..............................................................................................Mikhail PETRENKO / михаил ПетренКо 6 xvii. So jung un schön erschimmerst du mir / So young and fair and dazzling you look p20 4’58” Wotan / Вотан..........................................................................................................................................................................René Pape / рене ПаПе 7 xviii. Funfte Szene: Zauberfest bezähmt ein Schlaf / Scene Five: Deep as a spell sleep subdues p21 3’01” Sieglinde / Зиглинда........................................................................................................................................................Anja
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  • Wagner Operas
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