Music in the Classical Period (Music 532)
Summary Outline for Midterm (Spring 2007)
I. The Problem of History.
A. The end of the Baroque.
1. death of Bach
2. Age of Enlightenment
3. emphasis on the universal
4. emphasis on the natural
B. What distinguishes classical music from baroque (from Rosen)?
1. short, periodic, articulated phrases
2. differentiated rhythms
3. articulation of the dominant
4. proportion and stability
5. recapitulation as resolution
6. style of reinterpretation
C. Terms.
1. "style galant"
2. "rococo"
3. Empfindsamkeit
4. "Sturm und Drang"
II. Reform trends in Italian opera.
A. Important librettists
1. Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750) — Imperial Poet (Vienna), 1718–1729
2. Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782) — Imperial Poet (Vienna), 1729–1782
B. New conventions
1. "aria di sortita" (exit aria)
2. separation of serious and comic elements
3. "da capo" aria
C. Opera seria.
1. Johann Adolf Hasse (1699–1783)
2. "Cleofide" (premiered 13 September 1731)
3. Aria: "Digli ch'io son fedele"
4. Faustina Bordoni (1700–1781) — soprano
D. Opera buffa.
1. "commedia dell'arte"
2. intermezzo
3. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736)
4. "La serva padrona" (premiered: 5 September 1733, between the acts of Pergolesi's opera seria "Il prigioniero superbo")
5. Aria: "Sempre in contrasti"
E. Opéra comique.
1. "Querelle des bouffons"
2. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Le devin du village" (1752)
III. Pre-classical style.
A. Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757).
1. son of Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725)
2. service to the infanta, Maria Barbara
3. "Essercizi per Gravicembalo" (1738)
4. Sonatas, K. 118–120
B. Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700/01–1775).
1. resident in Milan
2. three style periods
3. Symphony in D Major, J-C 15
C. Johann Stamitz (1717–1757).
1. Mannheim School
2. four movement symphonies
3. melodic style ("Mannheim figures")
4. treatment of winds
5. thematic differentiation
6. Symphony in E-flat Major, Op. 11, no. 3
D. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788).
1. son of J. S. Bach
2. service of Frederick the Great
3. position in Hamburg
4. "Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen" (Treatise on the true art of playing the keyboard, 1753 and 1762)
5. six collections of keyboard music "für Kenner und Liebhaber" (for connoisseurs and amateurs, 1779–1787)
6. Symphony in D Major, Wq. 183, no. 1
E. Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782).
1. youngest son of J. S. Bach
2. Italy
3. London
4. Sonata in D Major, Op. 5, no. 2
F. Other important figures.
1. Johann Joachim Quantz (1697–1773)
a. service of Frederick the Great
b. "Versuch einen Anweisung die Flöte traversière zu spielen" (Treatise of instruction on playing the transverse flute, 1752)
2. Leopold Mozart (1719–1787)
a. service of Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg
b. father of Wolfgang
c. "Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule" (Treatise on the basics of violin technique, 1756)
G. Rosen's four sonata forms ("Structure and Ornament," pp. 99–108)
1. "first movement" (with development)
2. "slow movement" (without development)
3. "minuet" (three-phrase)
4. "finale"
IV. Gluck and Reform Opera.
A. Francesco Algarotti (1712–1764), "Saggio sopra l'opera in musica" (Essay on Opera, 1754)
B. Giacomo Durazzo (1717–1794) — intendant of the Imperial Theater
C. Raniero de' Calzabigi (1714–1795) — librettist
D. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–1787)
1. preface to Alceste (published 1769)
2. "Orfeo ed Euridice" (premiered 5 October 1762), libretto by Calzabigi
a. Gaetano Guardagni (1729–1792) — alto castrato
b. Act I (beginning)
3. "Orphée et Eurydice" (premiered 2 August 1774 in Paris)
V. Joseph Haydn (1732–1809).
A. Esterházy family.
1. Eszterháza
2. baryton
B. Early symphonies.
1. "Sturm und Drang"
2. Symphony No. 39 in G Minor
C. String quartets.
1. public vs. private
2. Op. 1 and 2 ("divertimenti")
3. Op. 9, 17, and 20.
4. Op. 33 ("written in a new and special way")
5. String Quartet in G Major, Op. 33, no. 5
VI. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791).
A. Child prodigy.
1. Grand tour (1763–1766)
2. J. C. Bach
B. Salzburg.
1. Archbishop Colloredo
2. Paris journey (1777–1779)
C. Concertos.
1. Aria, "Aer tranquillo e dì sereni" from "Il rè pastore" (premiered 23 April 1775)
2. Concerto in D Major, K. 107, no. 1 (after J. C. Bach, Op. 5, no. 2)
3. Concerto in E-flat Major, K. 271 (first movement)