MUS 115 music, art & ideas

The Romantic Era in Music (1800 to 1850 or 1900 or 2007?)

(in some ways we have never left this era)

Chapter 12

[1] Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor, 1^st movement.

-- unified 4-movement work. (different performance on textbook CD)

-- 1808

[2] Beethoven Symphony No. 6, "The Pastoral," first movement,
"Awakening of Cheerful Feelings upon Arrival in the Country"

-- reflects the Romantic view of nature

-- "program" music is instrumental music that tells a story (compare “absolute” music)

-- 1808

[CD: George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra]

[3] Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne in F minor, Opus 55, No. 1 (1843)

-- introspective mood; psychologically probing?

-- as if "spontaneous" or improvised (in fact neatly structured)

-- a distant view of folk music (note the veiled suggestion of dance music), which relates to the Romantic interest in ethnicity and Nationalism

-- expanding use of chromatic harmony

-- use of dissonance for color (different piece on textbook CD)

[CD: The Complete Chopin Piano Works, Vol. 6, Nocturnes, Garrick Ohlsson, pianist]

Also played in class: Chopin’s Mazurka in B-flat Major, Opus 7, No.1 (1832)

Two traits or Romantic ideas

“nature” = folk music mazurka

- Polish dance in triple meter, Chopin wrote a lot of them; “Love and the melancholy of the land meet” – Chopin

exoticism

- “C” section in ABACA form; chromatic, “exotic” melody

[6] Schubert (1797-1828) Erlkonig, text by Geothe. 1815. [CD: An Die Musik, Bryn Terfel, baritone.] (different performance on textbook CD without voice)

ALSO LISTEN TO THE BERLIOZ SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE excerpt on textbook CD

Identify as program music; associate with Romantic themes such as love & madness

Romantic Art Themes, Images, Artists, & Titles to know

Nature, sublime – Caspar David Friedrich, The Wanderer Above the Mists, p 337

Nature, picturesque – John Constable, The Hay Wain, p 338

Artist as social critic – Goya, Executions of the Third of May, 1808, p 336

Supernatural or dream world - Goya, The Sleep of Reason Brings Forth Monsters, p 345

Exotic – Nash, Royal Pavilion, p 343

Medieval revival – Houses of Parliament, p 342

Chapter 13

[4] Richard Wagner (1813-1883), prelude to the opera Tristan und Isolde (1865)

-- expanding use of chromatic harmony over long spans of time

-- opera expands in size: larger orchestra, longer operas (The Ring takes four evenings to perform)

-- sophisticated orchestration

-- opera is now continuous: the aria/recitative concept is replaced by "continuous melody"

-- Wagner develops the idea of "leitmotif," in which a brief musical idea is associated with a character, idea, or object in an opera

-- Romantic nostalgia in the use of an ancient tale

-- ancient tale well-edited to project proto-psychological issues relating love, death, and desire; a notion of the sub-conscious before Freud??

[CD: Karl Bohm, conductor, Bayreuther Festspiele, 1966]

[5] Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection,” beginning of 3rd movement
(Scherzo). (c. 1893) NOT COVERED; NOT ON EXAM

- “cinematic” quality to the flow of the music

- symphonies very long (1.5+ hrs), orchestras huge

[CD: Bernstein, conductor; Vienna Philharmonic]