Download The Classical Period

1750-1800
The Classical Period
Copyright © 2006 Jacksonville High School, Christopher D. Howard
This information may be used and reproduced for educational purposes as long as proper credit is given.
Put the following quote in your own words
and then answer the question:
What do you think Kant is encouraging?
• “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his
self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the
inability to use one’s own understanding without
guidance from another. This immaturity is selfimposed when its cause lies not in a lack of
understanding, but in a lack of resolve and
courage to use it without guidance from
another.” Immanuel Kant, German Philospher (1724-1804), p.277
The Classical Period
• Dates debatable
– Musical Trends
– Period Designations
• We use 1750-1800
• Age of The Enlightenment
– Free Thinking
– “Dare to Know” (Kant)
– Progressive ideas
• American and French Revolution
• Composers: Billings, Stamitz, Haydn, Mozart
– mostly court musicians
• Philosophers and Writers: Kant, Paine, Goethe, Voltaire,
Rousseau
• Leaders: Jefferson, Franklin
The Classical Period
Historical Period
Copyright © 2006 Jacksonville High School, Christopher D. Howard
This information may be used and reproduced for educational purposes as long as proper credit is given.
Philosophy
• Enlightenment philosophy:
– Humans were innately good and a society
could be perfected if reason was permitted to
replace superstition and tradition.
Philosophers, Writers, and
Revolutionaries
• Immanuel Kant (Germany-Philosopher)
– “Dare to know.”
• Francois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire (France-writer)
– “Liberty of thought is the life of the soul.”
•
(From Essay on Epic Poetry, 1727)
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French, Swiss-Born—writer)
– “The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said, ‘This
is mine.’ and found people naïve enough to believe him, was the
true founder of civil society.”
• From (Speech on the Origin and the Base of the Inequality Among
Men)
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German poet, playwright,
novelist)
– “Noble be man, helpful and good! For that alone sets him apart
from every other creature on earth.”
• From The Divine, 1783
Philosophers, Writers, and
Revolutionaries
• Thomas Paine (English-journalist and pamphleteer)
– Migrated to America in 1774, with help of Benjamin Franklin
– Wrote The Crisis and Common Sense
– “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
• From (The Crisis)
• Thomas Jefferson (American Lawyer, Revolutionist and
3rd US President)
– Helped write the Declaration of Independence (Largest
contributor)
– “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against
every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
– Played Violin…collected instruments
Philosophers, Writers, and
Revolutionaries
• Benjamin Franklin (American-Inventor and
revolutionist)
– Helped write the Declaration of Independence
– Invented Bifocals, Harvested Electricity, Glass
Harmonica
– “If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are
dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or
do things worth writing.”
– “When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.”
– “One good Husband is worth two good Wives; for the
scarcer things are, the more they’re valued.”
– “Fish and visitors stink after three days.”
– “Well done is better than well said.”
American Revolution
• Followed the Revolutionary War (b/t GB
and US)
• Americans Declared independence from
England….Signed Declaration of
Independence, July 4, 1776
• US Constitution ratified in 1789
(completed in 1787), replacing the Articles
of Confederation as the official Law of the
Land.
French Revolution (1789ish)
• National bankruptcy caused by several global
conflicts
• Lack of food
• Resentment of absolutism
• French Nationals rioted the country and
overthrew the Bastille (National Prison)
• Bastille Day-July 14, 1789
• In the time following, Louis XVI dethroned and
convicted of treason and then executed and
Marie Antoinette (Queen) decapitated
Industrial Revolution (1700-1900)
• Cotton Gin (Eli Whitney credited)
• Steam Engine (Robert Fulton)
• Harvested Electricity (Lightning Rod—Ben
Franklin)
• Steel Refining (Henry Bessemer)
The Classical Period
Compositional styles
Copyright © 2006 Jacksonville High School, Christopher D. Howard
This information may be used and reproduced for educational purposes as long as proper credit is given.
The Symphony
• A multi-movement work for instrumental
ensemble
– Transformed from Opera Overture to Individual entity
• No standard format
–
–
–
–
–
Generally:
3-4 Movements
contrasting
Sonata form used widely
Occasionally using dance movements
The Symphony
• 1st Movement
– Usually sonata form w/ a (usually) slow introduction
• 2nd/3rd Movement
– Slow
– ABA (or variation)
– Key other than tonal center
• 2nd/3rd Movement
– Minuet
– More Rhythmically varied (no dancing)
• 4th Movement
– Finale
– Sonata or rondo or rondo-sonata
Sonata Form
• Introduction
• Exposition (Group I, Group II)
– Exposing main theme(s)
• Development
– Themes are developed
– Many suggested key centers-closely related keys*
– Somewhat ‘free’
• Recapitulation
– Main theme(s) restated
• Coda (Codetta)
– Ending segment
*Closely related keys: parallel, relative, +/- sharp/flat and their resulting relative or parallels
Fantasia
• Free form
• Development of a sonata
String Quartet
• 4 Players
– 2 Violins
– 1 Viola
– 1 Cello
• Began with Basso Continuo…expanded
• All parts equal (melody and accomp.)
Concerto and Opera
• Both still popular
• Concertos usually written in the form of a
sonata
– Cadenzas were expected
• (usually improvised…opportunity to show off
instrumental or virtuosic abilities)
• Opera Buffa (not just in Italy) saw a great
rise.
Opera Reform
• Led by Christoph Willibald Gluck
– Austrian
• Opera became
– More syllabic
– More simple melodies
– Thematically-based overture
– Increasingly more choral (like the oratorio)
Sacred Music
• Still being written
• Much of the same
• Usually commissioned
The Classical Period
Composers of Note
Copyright © 2006 Jacksonville High School, Christopher D. Howard
This information may be used and reproduced for educational purposes as long as proper credit is given.
Franz Joseph Haydn
• 1732 Rohrau-1809 Vienna, Austria
• Called Papa Haydn for father-like qualities (never
married)
• Esterhazy family (Eisenstadt)
– Assistant Director under Prince Paul Anton
– Director under Prince Nickolaus ($$)
• Programmatic works (musical portrayal of an idea or concept…Flight of the
Bumblebee)
– “Morning,” “Noon,” “Night,” “Farewell,” “Surprise,” etc.
•
•
•
•
Frequently used simple, Nationalistic melodies.
Composed melody used for Austrian National Anthem
Beethoven student of Haydn
Wrote 106 Symphonies
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• 1756 (Salzburg, Austria)-1791 (Vienna, Austria)
• Father (Leopold)—Violinist
– Responsible for music teaching
•
•
•
•
•
Dog and Pony show
Don Giovanni
The Marriage of Figaro
Requiem (mass for the dead)
Wrote 41 Symphonies
William Billings
• American Composer (1746-1800)
• Among (if not) the first American-Born
Composer (Boston)
• Most output was sacred
– The New England Psalm-Singer (1770)
Source
Bonds, Mark Evan. A History of Music in
Western Culture. Upper Saddle River:
Pearson Education, Inc., 2003.