L.A. Classical Music Program - Fall - Winter 2023 - Day 1

 The Eras of Classical Music

All eras of music are transitioned into and overlap with the era that immediately follows it.

     400 - 1400   -   Middle Ages / Medieval  (Early: 400 - 1000 / High: 1000 - 1400)  

   1400 - 1600   -   Renaissance

 
    1600 - 1750    -  Baroque -  (Late Baroque 1700-1750: Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, D. Scarlatti, Telemann)

 
   1750 - 1800    -  Classical (in music -   Neoclassical in visual arts, architecture, and lit.)  Haydn / Mozart

   1800 - 1830    -  Transition from Classical to Romantic  (Beethoven / Schubert / C.M. v. Weber) 

   1830 - 1910?  -  Romantic  (Early: 1830 - 1860 / Late: 1860 - 1910)

                 A List of 19th Century Romantic Composers (and a few 20th century modernists)

   1910 - Today  -  Contemporary / Modernism  (Stravinsky, Debussy, Bartok, Schoenberg...)

Timeline leading to the Romantic era

         1797  -  Franz Schubert is born in Vienna.  Beethoven, 26, is in his third year of publishing his music.  

                      Mozart has been dead 6 years.  Haydn is nearing the end of his career.

         1803  -  Hector Berlioz is born in south-eastern France.  Beethoven is beginning to compose his 

                      opera Leonora, later Fidelio, and his radical new Symphony No. 3 "Eroica".

         1809 - 1811  -  Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann are born in Germany, Frédéric Chopin in 

                      Poland, Franz Liszt in Hungary.  Beethoven is becoming the most famous composer in Europe. 

 

         1814-15  -  The Congress of Vienna.  Beethoven is at the height of his fame.  Schubert, 17-18, composes 

                      two fully mature songs, Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel and The Elf King. 

         1822   -  Carl Maria von Weber composes the first German romantic grand opera, Der Freischutz (The 

                       Marksman).  Beethoven, now completely deaf, is in his "late" period.  Schubert matures into 

                       a great composer of instrumental music.  He also catches syphilis that year.

         1827-28  -   Beethoven dies at 56, Schubert dies at 31.  

         1830   -  Hector Berlioz premiers Symphonie fantastique.  Mendelssohn is 21, Schumann and Chopin

                       are 20, and Liszt is 19.  Liszt is in the audience for the premier and is highly influenced by it.

 

         1830 - 1860  -  The Early Romantic era.

         1860   -  Chopin, Schumann, and Mendelssohn are dead.  Liszt lives until 1886.  The "Late" Romantic 

                       period begins... (Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Dvorak, Grieg, Saint-Sëans, and many more).

         1910   -  The romantic style is giving way to 20th century modernism.  Sergei Rachmaninoff will 

                       compose romantic music into the 1930s.  

Classicism vs. Romanticism

    Classicism vs. Romanticism - Values Comparison

    A Short History of Western Classical Art  

      A Short History of Western Romantic Art

   A Few Mozart Works: Cheerful, Sensible, Orderly, Balanced, Simple, Dignified, Elegant, Optimistic

                                          One clear melody line at a time, sometimes a slight pause,

                                          but no sudden silences.  The pulse stays steady throughout.
                                         Pleasant sounding harmonies (consonance), no unpleasant harmonies (dissonance)


        1.   Eine Kleine Nachtmusik -  Shows off design & balance, clear single melody lines, happy & optimistic

        2.   Piano Concerto No. 21, Movement 2 - sweet, beautiful, elegant - single note, staccato melodies

 
        3.   Piano Concerto No. 9, Movement 3 - energetic, joyful, mixed with slower passages

        4.   Piano Concerto No. 20, Movement 3 - proto-romantic, dark, dramatic


   A Few Beethoven Works:  dark, dramatic, dissonant, sudden silences, unpleasantness (at times)

                                                the pulse seems to speed up and slow down (at times)

                                                Complexity; multiple melody lines at the same time (at times). 

                                                Starks contrasts between simplicity and complexity, pleasantness 

                                                and unpleasantness.
                                                Syncopation:  sharp accents off the beat

        1.   Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathétique", Movement 1 - dissonance, sudden silences, legato, two hand chords
        
        2.   Piano Sonata No. 23 "Appassionata", Movement 3 - turbulent, relentless, melodies in each hand

        3.   Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" , Movements 3,4,5  -  Program music, evokes emotions of being in a storm

 

   Carl Maria von Weber (1886 - 1826):  The first fully romantic composer?  Important for German romantic 

                   opera and romantic piano music; influenced Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Liszt. 

        1.  Der Freischütz  (opera)  Wolf's Glen scene - scary, magic, demons

        2.  Konzertstück für Klavier und Orchester 

 

Musical Changes in the Romantic Era

   1.  New genres and modifications of old genres:

             Program music is used far more than ever before.  Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique (1830) 

             is the first symphony to tell story.  Robert Schumann writes several famous solo piano program works.  

             In the 1850s, Franz Liszt creates the symphonic poem genre (also called a tome poem).  It is a one 

             movement symphony orchestra work that has a topic.  Symphonic poems remain popular through 

             the 1920s.  In general, symphonies get longer throughout the 19th century, many surpassing LvB's

             70 minute Symphony No. 9.

             The piano "miniature" (a piece less than 10 minutes long) becomes popular.  Chopin, Schumann, 

             Liszt, and Mendelssohn all write them.  The genres include scherzos, preludes, études, waltzes, 

             polonaises, mazurkas, impromptus and nocturnes.  The piano sonata declines: Mozart wrote 18 and 

             Beethoven 32, while Schumann, Chopin, and Mendelssohn wrote three each, and Liszt one.

    2.  Advancements in musical instruments

             The Piano - harps are now metal instead of wood, allowing the strings to be strung tighter for a 

                                  greater projection of sound.  This enables piano music to fill large concert halls.  This 

                                  is the first era age of piano virtuoso popularity, where pianists like Franz Liszt draw 

                                  huge crowds.  Middle class patrons drive the demand.   

             Brass instruments -  Trumpets, French horns, tubas get valves allowing them to produce all of the 

                                  notes over several octaves.  Brass sections in orchestras become much more important 

                                  as orchestras, overall, become larger.

 

   3.  Romantic themes:  drama, tragedy, love / unrequited love, nature, children, anxiety, terror, death, hell, 

                                         the devil, fantasy, magic, ghosts, monsters, Greek myths and medieval legends.