Download Secular vocal music

1. Secular vocal music: classical opera
1.1. Opera seria
1.2. Opera buffa
2. Instrumental music
2.1. The sonata scheme
2.2. Main instrumental forms
3. Dance in the Classicism
3.1. The true ballet: ballet d’action
3.2. Social dance: minuet
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Secular vocal music: classical opera
1.1. Opera seria
Opera underwent a change during the Classicism, common to the rest of
musical forms, which made it tend towards naturalness.
It eliminated the excesses of the Baroque and took the plots and characters
closer to the new bourgeois audience.
Opera seria
In the opera seria, the initiator of this reformation was the German composer
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787), with the work Orpheus and Eurydice.
He used simpler music and more plausible storylines.
Secular vocal music: classical opera
1.2. Opera buffa
• It became the favorite opera genre of the
Classicism.
• Spoken dialogs and normal characters.
• The main composer was Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (1756-1791) with The Marriage of
Figaro, written in Italian, and The Magic Flute,
written in German and, therefore, example of
singspiel.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791).
Instrumental music
The introduction of new instruments like the piano and the clarinet, new and
more varied chamber arrangements and the evolution of the orchestra
helped in the progress of instrumental music.
Instrumental music
2.1. The sonata scheme
Instrumental music used the three-part scheme of the sonata as a
composition model, made up of:
- Exposition: presentation of two
themes in different keys.
- Development: elaboration of the main
material by modulating to other keys.
- Recapitulation: return to exposition
with both themes in the main key.
Coda
Instrumental music
2.2. Main instrumental forms
The structure of the sonata was applied to the first movements of the
main instrumental forms:
Sonata
(for one or two soloists)
Chamber music
(for trio, quartet, etc.)
Symphony
(for orchestra)
Concerto (for soloist
and orchestra)
The most important instrumental music composers
were:
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Beethoven (1770-1827)
Dance in the Classicism
3.1. The true balle: ballet d’action
Modern ballet appeared, as the conjunction of
music, choreography and stage, together in
order to express a dramatic idea.
This new conception of ballet brought other
significant changes:
• The importance of a storyline.
• The composition of music was at the service of the
scene, especially written for dancing.
• The use of the dance troupe as a backdrop.
• A new dancing technique in which gestures and
facial expressions became more important.
• The clothes were adapted to the represented scene
and period.
Dance in the Classicism
3.2. Social dance: minuet
Aristocracy’s favorite social dance was
the minuet, which was also introduced
as a regular movement in instrumental
forms.
The minuet was the main dance of
aristocratic society in the 18th century.
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