The Symphony in the Classical Period (C1740–C1802)

Pre-UKS5 Pre-U Music: Topic A – The Symphony in the Classical Period (c1740–c1802) by Hugh Benham Hugh Benham has written on English church music, especially on John Taverner (d1545) and other Latin INTRODUCTION church music in England from c1460 to 1575, on Baroque Page 17 of the Cambridge Pre-U syllabus for 2016–2018 indicates the content for Topic A, including an music, Ralph understanding of the defining features of the Classical style, the development of formal structures, recognising Vaughan Williams, relevant performance practice, and specific musical examples. and various topics connected with A level music. He is This article has the following sections: an organist, choir The symphony director, senior The Classical period examiner and composer. Sonata form, rondo form, minuet and trio Performance See this web page. Representative works THE SYMPHONY A symphony may be generally defined as a work for orchestra with three or four movements in different tempos – a sonata for orchestra in all but name. In early 17th-century Italy, however, a ‘sinfonia’ was a work with independent parts for voices and instruments. ‘Sinfonia’ is derived from the Greek for Later, the type of Italian opera overture developed by Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), as in La caduta ‘sounding together’. de’Decemviri, was called ‘Sinfonia’ or ‘Sinfonia avanti l’opera’: such a ‘sinfonia’ had three sections (quick, slow and quick). Sometimes overtures were detached from their parent operas and played separately. Subsequently similar pieces were composed specifically for concert use. The French type of opera overture (called ‘ouverture’, literally ‘opening’) had slow and quick sections (and sometimes an additional slow passage or section). As late as the 1790s Haydn’s Symphony No. For example, 94 in G was described as a ‘grand overture’: the first movement (as in other late Haydn symphonies) Handel’s Concerto consists of slow and quick sections. Op. 6 No. 7 in B flat. See, for example, Baroque Music in Focus by H Other forebears of the symphony included the orchestral suite (with both dance and non-dance movements, Benham (Rhinegold Education), pages mostly in binary form). There was also a legacy from the concerto, chiefly the orchestral concerto: Haydn’s 58-59. Symphonies Nos 6–8 come to mind particularly in this respect. The earliest genuine symphonies include works by GB Sammartini (c1700–75) and Antonio Brioschi (active c1725–50). These date from the late 1720s, 30s and 40s, and reveal both Baroque and emerging Classical features. 1 Music Teacher March 2015 THE CLASSICAL PERIOD The expression ‘c1740–c1802’ in the title of Topic A makes it clear that the Classical period cannot be rigidly defined, while still identifying a span of years during which most music was Classical in style. The heart of the Classical period coincides with the maturity of Haydn and Mozart (from c1755-60 to c1800). Transitional styles (including the style galant) had been in evidence since at least the 1720s – see, for instance, Baroque Music in Focus, pages 98-99 (‘From Baroque to Classical’). Romantic tendencies were increasingly apparent in the first years of the 19th century. Typically, Classical music is distinguished from earlier (Baroque) music by more rapid and more marked contrasts of musical ideas, texture and mood. Counterpoint is still used, but homophonic writing is more widely favoured – often with relatively simple bass parts underpinning a harmonic structure dominated by chords I and V(7). Strings are still central to orchestral writing, but wind instruments are increasingly active. The keyboard continuo does not disappear overnight but becomes increasingly redundant. Regular or ‘periodic’ phrasing (derived partly from the dance via the style galant and partly from song) underlies much Classical writing. USEFUL READING INCLUDES The Oxford History of Western Music (College Edition) by R Taruskin and CH Gibbs (OUP, 2013), pages 408–409 The Classical Style by C Rosen (Faber, 2/1976) The article ‘Classical’ in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S Sadie, (Macmillan, 2/2001). Or see Grove Music Online. SONata FORM, RONDO FORM, MINUET AND TRIO Sonata form Recommended reading includes The Oxford History of Western Music (pages 414, 428–30), Rhinegold Dictionary of Music in Sound by D Bowman (Rhinegold, 2002), vol 1, pages 160–61, and the article ‘Sonata form’ in Grove. Sonata form may be viewed as ternary (with three main sections), or binary (with two main sections) – or as a synthesis of both. HOW FAR IS SONATA FORM TERNARY? Most sonata-form movements, like simple ternary movements (ABA), have a clear return to the opening music. Before the return there is contrasting music, notably with more pronounced tonal (key) contrast and more intensive development of material previously heard. Music Teacher March 2015 2 The three sections are known today as Exposition Compare A in ternary Development Compare B in ternary Recapitulation (often with coda) Compare second A in ternary Terms such as ‘exposition’ belong to 19th- and 20th-century (post-Classical) theorising rather than to 18th-century practice. Section 6 of the Grove article traces some of the theoretical history of sonata form. To demonstrate this, ask students to identify the broad ‘ternary-like’ outline of sonata form by listening to a short and relatively simple movement in full. This might be done aurally, or with a score. The performance here might be used (and perhaps compared with this one). Scores of all Mozart’s work are available online here. Students might be asked to answer as many as possible of the questions below, or you, as teacher, might demonstrate the various landmarks. Movement I from Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A, K201/186a, would be excellent for this purpose. Questions: Is the exposition (first A) repeated? Identify the start of B. Identify the return to the opening material (and key) – the beginning of the recapitulation or second A – after the more tense middle part (development, or B). Remember that the exposition or first A is repeated in most recorded performances. Are the development and recapitulation (B and second A) also (together) repeated? How does Mozart round off the movement? Although sonata form shares with simple ternary the simultaneous return to the opening material and the principal key, it differs vitally in that the exposition (its first A) ends away from the tonic, in a complementary key. So it is useful to view sonata form as rooted essentially in binary form, or as a synthesis of binary and ternary. BINARY FORM AND SONATA FORM The article on binary form in Grove is In simple binary form (as used in many Baroque pieces, such as dances from Bach’s English Suites) two recommended. sections are both repeated, the first commonly ending away from the tonic. The complementary key is most commonly the dominant, but it is the relative major in many minor-key pieces. A typical pattern is: A Tonic to complementary key A Repeated B Return to the tonic, usually via ‘new’ key(s) B Repeated With sonata form, it became usual to repeat only the first section (exposition), particularly as movements got longer towards the end of the 18th century. Where the composer asks for repetition, it is important for the balance of a movement and should be observed. 3 Music Teacher March 2015 The broad outline of a Classical sonata-form movement in the late 18th century is: Exposition Tonic to complementary key Compare A in binary Exposition Repeated Development Returning to tonic, via ‘new’ Compare first part of B in key(s) binary Recapitulation Tonic (including music Compare rest of B in binary previously heard in complementary key) Development and recapitulation Sometimes repeated Listen to Mozart’s Symphony No. 30 in D, K202/186b, and trace the progress of the music (including the moves to and from the complementary key) – with and/or without a score. There are two possible performances of Mozart’s Symphony No. 30 here and here. Some Baroque binary pieces have the same music at the end of B as at the end of A (but in the tonic instead of the complementary key). This is ‘balanced binary form’. This music example shows the fairly extended ‘rhyming endings’ in the Gigue from Bach’s English Suite No. 4 in F, BWV 809. 19 22 Music Teacher March 2015 4 47 50 Rhyming beginnings are also found, with the opening material reappearing in the complementary key at the start of B, as in the Gavotte I from Bach’s English Suite No. 6 in D minor, BWV 811. Such rhyming endings anticipate the extended correspondences in sonata form between exposition material in the complementary key and matching recapitulation material in the tonic key. In ‘rounded binary form’, the opening of A returns part way through B (again in the tonic key). Take, for example, the Sarabande from Bach’s Partita No. 4 in D, BWV 828. This kind of recurrence is a precedent for what happens at the beginning of a sonata-form recapitulation, where the opening of the exposition returns in the tonic. However, such a recurrence, which is usually brief, does not parallel or anticipate the dramatic effect of a recapitulation purposefully approached from an extended development. While Baroque binary pieces are generally uniform and continuous in mood and rhythmic character, many Classical sonata-form movements have greater variety in almost every way, combined with a dramatic element bound up with the handling of tonality. Mozart’s Symphony No. 29, for example, begins in A major and moves to E major during the exposition. In this respect it is no different from the A section of the binary Allemande from Bach’s English Suite No.

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