Week 13 : Symphony

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Mendelssohn Orchestral Music

•  Wrote Romantic landscapes: Influenced by Beethoven's sixth symphony

•  Form influenced by Haydn

•  Counterpoint influenced by Bach

•  Created a new genre: Concert Overture Influenced Berlioz (King Lear) and Schumann (Mandfred, Hermann und Dorthea). Until Beethoven came on the scene, symphonies were generally not played in their entirety. They contain programmatic titles and in sonata form.

•  His most popular works were his concert overtures. He wrote six: Trumpet overture op. 101 1825-6 and Midsummer Night's dream 1826, Meeresstille und glückliche fahrt 1828, Die Hebriden 1830, Ouverture zum Märchen von der schönen Melusine 1833, Ruy Blas 1839.

•  A common Mendelssohn trait: thematic material derived from a quintessential motif announced at the beginning and recalled at the end.

•  He could take a large orchestra and make a chamber like sound: light texture

 

Midsummer's Night's Dream 1826

•  Tight sonata form

•  Regular phrasings

•  4 chords: Basic cell for the piece (like Haydn), motif undergoes a series of transformations in order to depict the dream world.

•  Exposition has clear orchestration, Running figures: no syncopations, no thick textures, used motor rhythms for drive: the first theme represent dancing fairies, the second theme represents lovers. The final theme, symbolizes the hunting call, and craftsmen (which closes the exposition).

•  Horn: portrays hunting, the woods, supernatural figures, donkey call

•  The fairies dominate most of the development section and have the “last word” in the coda just as in Shakespeare's play.

 

Symphony 1 op. 11 c minor 1824

Opening like Weber's storm music in Der Freischütz

The Minuet and finale: Mozart's symphony 40 and Beethoven's 5 th symphony influenced.

 

The Reformation Symphony 1830

•  His first programmatic symphony. Composed prior to Symphony 2,3,4 but published late.

•  Later rejected by the composer

•  Outer movements contrasted two types of music: Palestrinian imitative writing on the Jupiter motto D-E-G-F sharp and quotations of the Dresden Amen to symbolize the catholic faith contrasting against a homophonic chorale texture (Ein feste burg) symbolizing Protestant faith.


 

The Italian Symphony 1833 op. 90 A major

Mendelssohn toured Europe from 1829-1831 and this inspired him to write this symphony as well as the Scottish symphony and orchestral overture, The Hebrides ( Fingal's Cave ).

I. Allegro vivace --: sonata form with d minor religious procession

II. Andante con moto: Compared to the “ Marche des pèlerins” from Berlioz's Harold en Italie.

III. con moto Moderato: minuet and trio. Inspired by Goethe's poem, Lilis Park .

IV. Saltarello: Presto: minor key with dance figurations from the Roman saltarello and Neapolitan tarantella are juxtaposed.

 

Scottish Symphony no. 3 a minor op. 56 1829-1849

Dedicated to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdoms , finished in Berlin .

Scottish folk music, clarinet pentatonic melody opens the scherzo

Through composed structure

Suppressed tempo markings of movements from the concert program.

Much of the thematic material of the symphony is from the slow intro E-A-B-C

Focus was on the unity of the whole

No program; only the score conjures up extra-musical devices throughout.

Final movement, Allegro vivacissimo-Allegro maestoso assai à dissonant fugato.

 

Berlioz Orchestral Music

Symphonic style:

•  It was Berlioz's discovery of Beethoven that led him to compose symphonies.

•  Succession of orchestral effects. Shifting orchestral colors designed to describe a programmatic theme.

•  Harmony less important in defining form. Melody and rhythm have equal importance.

•  Melodies: Long, uneven phrases, not easily remembered.

•  Syncopation:inspired by Beethoven

•  Regressive/retrogressive harmony: substituting the median III, or vi in place of a more direct tonic. Eg. III or VI instead of V.

Symphonie Fantastique- The Dream Symphony

•  The most original 19th century piece.

•  Classified as a Program Symphony which sets conditions for the Symphonic Poem (an orchestral form in which a poem or program provides a narrative or illustrative basis).

•  Cyclic, on an episode in an artist's life. Each movement represents a dream

•  Draws upon literary sources: Quincy 's, Confession of an opium user, Shelley's Frankenstein, and horror classics.

•  Idèe Fixe: A theme running through the piece which, in this symphony, not easily remembered and used in Thematic Transformation.

•  Five movements inspired by Beethoven's symphony 6 with the slow introduction and detailed program.

I. Rêveries-Passions

•  Radical harmonic outline. Large scale arch back to home key.

•  Sonata form

•  He rejected writing symmetrical melodies:every note to defy harmonization.

II. Un bal (A Ball)

•  Waltz theme à a single lonely soul amidst gaiety. Idée fixe quickly transforms

III. Scéne aux Champs

•  Opens with the English horn and off stage oboe tossing back and forth like horn's in the mountains.

•  Spirit of the countryside inhabitants. Swells and peaks representing distance thunder.

•  Innovative passage for four timpani players on two timpani.

•  Ends without resolution

IV. March au supplice (scaffold)

•  A dream where he is executed for killing his love.

V. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (dream of a witches Sabbath)

 

Harold in Italy op. 16 1834

•  Premiered at the orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire

•  Program symphony / Viola Concerto

•  Commissioned by Paganini

•  Based on “Childe Harold” by Lord Bryon: a portion of an epic containing a quintessential romantic hero. Viola assigned the dramatic role of a melancholy personality, Harold

•  Each movement is an Italian Scene

•  Idèe fixe more memorable than his Symphonie Fantastique.

•  Echoes Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony I, III(1830): with its overall expression of joy, church progression containing a short introduction with reciting tones. Pseudo Gregorian chant over a walking bass.

•  Reused material from his discarded concert overture, Rob Roy.

I. Harold aux Montagne

•  Purely programmatic in its expressing joy of being in Italy

•  Chromatic fugue in low strings

•  Viola plays the idée fixe and accompanied by the harp which is an unusual instrument for the symphony to employ.

•  Winds punctuate melody

•  Typical Berlioz: sparse texture and color, Huge orchestra

II. Marche des Pélerins: Harold accompanying a group of Pilgrims

III. Sérénade: A love scene in which someone is playing a serenade for his mistress.

IV. Orgie de brigands:

•  Harold spiritually tired and saddened. He searches for comfort from the wild company, perhaps in a Tavern setting.

•  Beethoven's ninth symphony, fourth movement trait à the orgy theme interrupts the passages from previous movements and fanfare opening followed by fugal theme, and syncopation.

 


Liszt Orchestral Music

•  Uses thematic transformation (changing character or the mood of a theme, non developmental technique). Beethoven uses some thematic transformations but not in a programmatic way.

•  During Liszt's second period he was music director of the court orchestra in Weimar where he composed Symphonic Poems and other orchestral music. His first movements shift in structural emphasis with shortened recapitulation, codas are larger and developmental.

•  Liszt is considered the leader of the New German School group who believed that traditional forms were dead and music of the future was to be programmatic.

A Faust Symphonie 1851

I. Faust

II. Gretchen

III. Mephistopheles

•  Originally conceived as a pure instrumental work. In 1854 he adds a new ending à setting of chorus, solo tenor and male chorus.

•  In three characters after Goethe's Faust.

•  Doesn't retell the story but creates musical portraits.

•  Keyless beginning à Faust as a thinker contemplating the mysteries of the universe à seen as one of the earliest 12 note rows in music history.

•  Thematic metamorphosis à reveals contradicting sides of Faust's personality

•  Motifs à passion love, pride all subjected to character change. Doubt motif and love motif different perception of the same thing.

•  Orchestra à sum of many chamber ensembles à influenced Mahler and Strauss.

•  Gretchen theme à complex music introduced first as a duet for oboe and viola, then a woodwind quartet and finally a string quartet.

•  The finale à Mephistopheles, spirit of negation who cannot create but only destroy. He has no themes. He only mocks and distorts Faust themes. Liszt quotes his earlier works (Malédiction (curse) for piano and strings. The finale as a whole is a large metamorphosis of the first movement. Only Gretchen's music is untouched (influenced Bartok's b minor violin concerto).

 

Les Prelude 1848 revised 1854

•  Like a concert overture of Mendelssohn.

•  Sonata form

•  Lamartine poem attached after the composition was complete. “Life as a prelude of death, embrace life in love.” The beginning motive, “the mystery of life.”

•  Thematic transformation used to match the poetic idea

•  One of his most popular of his symphonic poems: He wrote 12 symphonic poems which deal with extraordinary heroes with whom he identified.

•  Reshuffled themes in new and unexpected order adding contrasting themes via thematic transformation.

•  Influential to R. Strauss and Sibelius.

•  Presents a shape and idiom that roughly fits into the genre of a concerto overture in sonata form.

•  He takes Beethoven's symphonic ideal a step further with relating most of his thematic material to a set of thematic transformations. The first idea of the slow introduction forms the basis for the head motive of the first theme. The second theme borrows the prominent downward half step from both themes.

•  The material recycles in a standard development section.

•  The recapitulation replays the first and second themes in reverse: Chopin uses this in his first ballade and as well as in Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.

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