X: Intro to the Classic Era
Despite the impression you may have gotten from piano recitals, Western music did not jump straight from J.S. Bach to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, the composers of the First Viennese School. On the contrary, new styles from the Rococo in France and the Empfindsamkeit in Germany arose in the early 1700s, around the Age of Enlightenment.
Like a petit four, the music of the Rococo was designed to be charming, entertaining, and crafted on a smaller scale. François Couperin (1668-1733) and Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) wrote these delightful pieces for keyboard. Rameau is also known for his famous Treatise on Harmony, which sets a foundation in music theory.
Like a petit four, the music of the Rococo was designed to be charming, entertaining, and crafted on a smaller scale. François Couperin (1668-1733) and Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) wrote these delightful pieces for keyboard. Rameau is also known for his famous Treatise on Harmony, which sets a foundation in music theory.
Empfindsamkeit, on the other hand, means "sensitive style." This music strove for simplicity and natural expression. Like works from the early Baroque, texture decreased from complex counterpoint to homophony once again. While J.S. Bach's contrapuntal masterworks are a canon of the Baroque repertoire, the compositions of his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), are prime examples of the Empfindsamkeit. C.P.E.'s treatise, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, is still used as a reference on historical practices today.
Meanwhile, the War of the Buffoons, which was nothing more than an argument, took place in the world of opera. Opera of the traditional French court was being replaced with Italian comic opera, opera buffa, which were full of racy pieces and popular songs. For shame.
As the nobility required music for entertainment at social events, composers started working under the patronage system. In exchange for composing court music, they were treated like top-notch servants with room and board. Melodies became more singable, harmonies were more diatonic, and rhythms were very regular. Texture became more chordal, creating a stronger vertical dimension. Gradual dynamic changes such as crescendo and decrescendo took the place of sudden dynamic shifts. Large scale works used more variety in tone color. The ideals of the Classic era became simplicity, elegance, symmetry, and balance.
As the nobility required music for entertainment at social events, composers started working under the patronage system. In exchange for composing court music, they were treated like top-notch servants with room and board. Melodies became more singable, harmonies were more diatonic, and rhythms were very regular. Texture became more chordal, creating a stronger vertical dimension. Gradual dynamic changes such as crescendo and decrescendo took the place of sudden dynamic shifts. Large scale works used more variety in tone color. The ideals of the Classic era became simplicity, elegance, symmetry, and balance.
XI: A Word on Form
The form of a piece of music describes the structure.
Take the following example from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
Twinkle twinkle little bat, How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly, Like a tea tray in the sky.
Twinkle twinkle little bat, How I wonder what you're at!
You know how to sing this. Both the words and the music are the same in lines 1 and 3. Because line 1 came first, we can call it the A section. Line 2 is different, so it's the B section. Thus, the form of this piece is ABA, also known as ternary. A piece with only two parts, AB, would be in binary form. Binary forms often use a repeat in both sections, creating A repeat B repeat, or AABB.
To understand the terms movement, section, theme, phrase, and motive, think of a novel. A large-scale work, such as a symphony, sonata, concerto, or string quartet, is somewhat like an entire novel. These works can be further broken up into three or four movements, which are like parts in the novel. From here it gets a little tricky, but imagine that chapters are like sections, paragraphs that stick to one idea are like themes, individual sentences are like phrases, and linguistic phrases are like motives. Words are like notes. You get the idea - these terms refer to differently sized parts. Anyway, music is not really like language because variation, repetition, and development aren't nearly as enjoyable in language. If they were, the Classics section of the library would be filled with children's books, and high school would have made a little more sense.
The multimovement cycle is the structure, or collection of forms, for three or four movement works. The first movement is usually in sonata form, which will be explained momentarily. The second, set in a slower tempo, is often ternary or set in theme and variations. A theme and variations is exactly what it sounds like; one melody is stated and then repeated with variation several times. The third movement in a four movement work is usually a minuet and trio. The minuet and the trio are both short pieces. In this form, the minuet begins, the trio follows, and a shortened version of the minuet is restated. This shorter ternary form is also called rounded binary. In a scherzo and trio, the scherzo has a slightly different character than the minuet, but the form remains the same. The final movement is usually set in another sonata form or a rondo. A rondo repeats the rondo theme, which alternates with contrasting sections. One example of a rondo would be ABACABA.
And now, what you've all been waiting for - the beloved sonata form! If some day you are minding your own business at a bus stop, and other people start talking to you about the "sonata-allegro form," know that this is the same as sonata form, and also be wary of them.
Sonata form is broken down into three parts called the exposition, development, and recapitulation. In the exposition, two contrasting themes are presented. The first theme is in the main key. A bridge modulates to the second theme, which is in a closely related key. A closely related key is one that uses many of the same notes as the main key. The development then takes material from the exposition and messes it up. The themes can be presented in sequence (repetition higher or lower), inversion (upside down), retrograde (backwards), augmentation (made slower), diminution (made faster), compression (cut up), or expansion (elaborated upon). In short, anything you can imagine. They are also presented in lots of keys, some of which are not closely related. All of this is known as thematic development. After all the excitement, the recapitulation begins. The "recap" restates both themes from the exposition, this time remaining in the main key. Because the themes are presented in both the exposition and the recapitulation, sonata form is related to ternary form. All forms sometimes end with an extra closing section called a coda.
The great Joseph Haydn is affectionately remembered for his contributions in developing Classical form, particularly in the string quartet and symphony. Here is his very first piano sonata, composed in 1766. Under the video is a diagram of each movement to follow along while listening. Notice the early version of sonata form in the first movement, with a repeat of the recapitulation and development. It's very much like the rounded binary in the last movement. Also, note that the second movement is dance-like, whereas the third is slow; this is switched from what would become the standard settings of the multimovement cycle.
Sonata form is broken down into three parts called the exposition, development, and recapitulation. In the exposition, two contrasting themes are presented. The first theme is in the main key. A bridge modulates to the second theme, which is in a closely related key. A closely related key is one that uses many of the same notes as the main key. The development then takes material from the exposition and messes it up. The themes can be presented in sequence (repetition higher or lower), inversion (upside down), retrograde (backwards), augmentation (made slower), diminution (made faster), compression (cut up), or expansion (elaborated upon). In short, anything you can imagine. They are also presented in lots of keys, some of which are not closely related. All of this is known as thematic development. After all the excitement, the recapitulation begins. The "recap" restates both themes from the exposition, this time remaining in the main key. Because the themes are presented in both the exposition and the recapitulation, sonata form is related to ternary form. All forms sometimes end with an extra closing section called a coda.
The great Joseph Haydn is affectionately remembered for his contributions in developing Classical form, particularly in the string quartet and symphony. Here is his very first piano sonata, composed in 1766. Under the video is a diagram of each movement to follow along while listening. Notice the early version of sonata form in the first movement, with a repeat of the recapitulation and development. It's very much like the rounded binary in the last movement. Also, note that the second movement is dance-like, whereas the third is slow; this is switched from what would become the standard settings of the multimovement cycle.
Piano Sonata No. 1 in G major, Hob. XVI:8
John McCabe, Piano
Movement I: Allegro
(Exposition) repeat (Development, Recapitulation) repeat
Movement II: Menuet
(A) repeat (B) repeat
Movement III: Andante
(A) repeat (B) repeat
Movement IV: Allegro
(A) repeat (B, A) repeat
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