Unit 3

Question 1

Classical

Answer 1

1730(50)-1815(00)
Music that was an analogy to Greek and Roman art.
The style associated with the mature music of Haydn and Mozart.
The heart of the Common Practice Period.

Question 2

Periodicity

Answer 2

The new melodic style that broke up the melodic flow with a succession of short distinct phrases of two to four measures in length.
A period, consisting of two or more phrases, formed a complete musical thought.
Characterized by frequent cadences.

Question 3

Alberti bass

Answer 3

Set chords in repeating patterns to animate harmonies without distracting from melodies.

Question 4

Opera Buffa

Answer 4

Italian comic opera.
A full-length work that was sung throughout.
Six or more characters.
Plots caricatured the faults of both aristocrats and commoners.
Characters often resembled the stock characters of the comedian dell’arte.
Dialogue was set in rapidly delivered recitative with continuo.

Question 5

Intermezzo

Answer 5

This genre originated as a short, comic, musical interlude between the acts of a serious opera or play.
Plots were mostly comedies involving ordinary people, sometimes parodying the excesses of serious opera.
Most have only two signing roles and incorporate bass voice.
The music alternated recitative and arias.

Question 6

Opera Seria

Answer 6

The poet Pietro Metastasio established this form.
The conventional cast consists of two pairs of lovers and other characters.
Stories usually end with a heroic deed or a magnanimous gesture by a principal character.
The story is presented in three acts.
The music alternates recitatives and arias.

Question 7

Opéra Comique

Answer 7

Used similar popular tunes known as vaudevilles.
Simple airs, aired tea, inspired by the Italian style, began to appear after 1750.
Used spoken dialogue rather than recitative.

Question 8

Ballad opera

Answer 8

Popular opera in England.
Set in English, ballad operas used spoken dialogue.
Initially, the songs were borrowed popular tunes with new words, but later new songs were composed.

Question 9

The Beggar’s Opera

Answer 9

By John Gay and Johann Pepusch.
The enormous popularity of this ballad opera established the genre.
It satirizes London society and conventions of opera Seria.
The original orchestration includes violins, but the music survives only with basso continuo realization.

Question 10

Singspiel

Answer 10

German comic opera.
“Speaking play”
Features spoken dialogue, musical numbers, and a comic plot.
English ballad opera exerted a strong influence.

Question 11

Gluck

Answer 11

He was influenced by the Italian reform movement and vowed to purge Italian opera of it abides and excesses.
He did not want singers’ wishes or the da capo form to restrict the composer.
He wanted the overture to be an integral part of the opera.
He lessened the contrast between recitative and aria. his goal was to create music of “a beautiful simplicity”

Question 12

Lied

Answer 12

German song.
It tended to be strophic, easy to sing, and supported by a subordinate accompaniment.
Many were published in the 2nd half of the century.

Question 13

Billings

Answer 13

Wrote over 340 pieces
Almost all of the works are sacred for unaccompanied four-part choir on newly composed melodies, such as Chester.
Most were harmonized hymn tunes called plain tunes.

Question 14

Fortepiano

Answer 14

Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano in Florence in 1700.
The hammer strikes the strings. This allows the performer to change dynamics.
Two types: grand and square.
The ones in the 18th century are called this to distinguish them from later models.

Question 15

Binary form

Answer 15

Most Classic-era forms are essentially harmonic.
Modulating from tonic to dominant and then back.
In minor keys, the modulation is to the minor dominant.
Has 2 sections:
The first modulates away from the tonic.
The second returns to the tonic.

Question 16

Sonata (allegro) form, first-movement form:

Answer 16

The first movement of a sonata, chamber work, or symphony from the Classic period.
In the 18th century, it was seen as a two-part structure, but 19th century theorists described it in 3.
Exposition, development, recapitulation.

Question 17

Coda

Answer 17

“Tail” in Italian.
The extra part at the end of the piece.
In sonata form, it’s after the recapitulation.

Question 18

Variations form

Answer 18

Often presents a small binary form theme followed by variants.

Question 19

Minuet and trio form

Answer 19

Joins two binary-form minuets in an ABA pattern.
A: Minuet. B: Trio
ABA’CDAB Each section is repeated.

Question 20

Rondo form

Answer 20

Common for last movements.
The principal theme is a small binary form or a single period. It alternates with episodes, which are often in other keys. A is always in the same key.
Common patterns are ABACA or ABACADA.

Question 21

C. P. E. Bach

Answer 21

Son of J. S. Bach.
He studied with his father and became one of the most influential composers of his time.
His most numerous and important works are for keyboard.

Question 22

J. C. Bach

Answer 22

He was among the first to compose piano concertos.

He was the youngest son of J. S. Bach.

Question 23

Concerto

Answer 23

A popular genre throughout the Classical era.
They continued to be set with three movements.
The first movement of the classical one combines the ritornello structure of the Baroque era with aspects of sonata form.

Question 24

Cadenza

Answer 24

After the recapitulation of a Concerto
The soloist by themselves during the first movement.
The time for the soloist to show off.
Improvisation.
The end is signaled by a trill to signal the orchestra to come back in.

Question 25

Haydn

Answer 25

He was the most celebrated composer of his day. He best remembered for his symphonies and string quartets. He spent most of his career working for the Esterházy family, a wealthy Hungarian noble family. He composed music, conducted performances, trained and supervised musical personnel, and kept the musical instruments in good conditions. He built an orchestra of about twenty five performances and gave weekly concerts, etc. he could be original. He held his vocal music in higher regard than his imposture tap works, though his present day reputation places more value on the latter.

Question 26

Eszterháza

Answer 26

The wealthy Hungarian noble family Haydn spent most of his career working for. They moved from Eisenstadt in Austria to (the same namesake), a remote country estate in Hungary.

Question 27

Lord Nelson Mass

Answer 27

One of Haydn's last masses. Set for 4 vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra with trumpets and timpani. He retains traditional elements, such as fugal writing.

Question 28

Missa in tempore belli

Answer 28

One of Haydn's last masses. Set for 4 vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra with trumpets and timpani. He retains traditional elements, such as fugal writing.

Question 29

Exposition

Answer 29

First part of the sonata form. It exposes the main themes. There are usually 2. Sometimes has a slow intro before this part. Usually repeated, contains 4 sections: First (A) theme group in the tonic. A transition to the dominant or relative major. This sometimes has its own theme. A second (B) theme in the new key. A closing (CL) theme in the new key.

Question 30

Development

Answer 30

The second part of the sonata form. It presents themes from the exposition and modulates to new and sometimes remote keys. It usually does not present a new theme.

Question 31

Recapitulation

Answer 31

The third part of the sonata form. | It restates material from the exposition in the original order, but in the tonic, the original key.

Question 32

Mozart

Answer 32

friends with Haydn. Achieved international recognition earlier than Haydn. He never found a permanent position and worked as a free agent in Vienna. He was a remarkable child prodigy. He toured throughout Europe. He gave performances on the keyboard and violin in aristocratic homes and in the public. He composed minuets at age five, a symphony just before turning nine, his first oratorio at eleven, and his first opera at twelve. He earned an income from several sources.

Question 33

Double exposition

Answer 33

The repeat of the exposition, but it isn't the same as the first time. In concertos

Question 34

The Marriage of Figaro

Answer 34

Mozart wrote this based on librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte. | An Italian comic opera. Had characters that were serious, comic, and in between.

Question 35

Die Enführung aus dem Serail (the abduction form the Harlem)

Answer 35

Composed by Mozart. Established his operatic reputation and was a great success. He raised the Singspiel to the level of an artwork. The "oriental" setting was popular at this time, and Mozart uses Turkish-style music.

Question 36

Don Giovanni

Answer 36

Mozart wrote this based on librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte. | An Italian comic opera. Had characters that were serious, comic, and in between.

Question 37

Così fan tutte

Answer 37

Translates to Thus Do All Women. Mozart wrote this based on librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte. An Italian comic opera. Had characters that were serious, comic, and in between.

Question 38

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

Answer 38

This Singspiel was composed in the last year of Mozart's life, along with the opera seria La clemenza di Tito (The Mercy of Titus). The story contains symbolism, largely drawn from he teachings and ceremonies of Freemasonry. Mozart interweaves a wide variety of vocal styles.

Question 39

Requiem

Answer 39

This work was commissioned by Count Walsegg in 1791. | It was unfinished at Mozart's death, so his pupil finished it.

Question 40

Beethoven

Answer 40

His career is divided into three periods. The 1st period consists of his youth in Bonn and his early years in Vienna. During this time, he studied with his father and other local musicians. He attracted attention as a virtuoso pianist and improviser. In Vienna, he studied with Haydn and took counterpoint lessons with Albrechtsberger. He established himself as a pianist and composer. During the middle period, he began to compose in a new style. Many publishers competed for his music. He often dodged deadlines, giving him time to revise his works. He wrote few pieces, but they gradually become longer. He usually stayed on one idea and developed everything based on that. He began going deaf in 1802. Many of his compositions seem to reflect his struggles. His music during this time build on the models of Haydn and Mozart. In his later years, he went further into isolation. He abandoned the heroic style. The mood became more introspective, and the musical language was more concentrated. He emphasized continuity.

Question 41

Sonate pathéthique

Answer 41

A piano sonata composed by Beethoven. The title suggests suffering and a tragic mode of expression. The sonata has 3 movements: The passionate first movement begins with a dramatic slow introduction, which returns twice during the movement. The serene middle movement is in A-flat major. The finale returns to the stormy mood and key of the first movement.

Question 42

Fidelio

Answer 42

Beethoven's only opera. It's based on a rescue plot. The plot glorifies heroism and the humanitarian ideas of the Revolution. Leonore, dressed as a man, rescues her husband from prison. Beethoven revised the opera many times.

Question 43

Emperor Concerto

Answer 43

Beethoven expanded the dimensions and expressive range in this piano concerto. The soloist opens it with a cadenza. It moves from C minor to C major, symbolizing a struggle for victory.

Question 44

An die ferne Geliebte

Answer 44

Translates to To the Distant Beloved. | The songs of this inaugurate the genre of the song cycle, are sung without breaks.

Question 45

Missa Solemnis

Answer 45

A mass written by Beethoven. Originally intended as a mass for the elevation of Archduke Rudolph to archbishop, the work became too long and elaborate for liturgical use. The influence of Handel can be seen in the choral writing, but the five movements are unified into a symphonic structure. The work functions as a concert piece.