Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download 19.1
Document related concepts
no text concepts found
Transcript
Chapter 18: The Late Romantics Late Romantic Program Music Key Terms Realism Symphonic poem Theme transformation Late Romantic Timeline The Late Romantics 1848 a year of failed revolutions • • • • In France, Italy, & various German states Hopes for political freedom seemed to die Many Romantic aspirations died as well Romanticism lived on, but as nostalgia 1848 a convenient point of demarcation • Early Romantics were dying – Mendelssohn, Chopin, & Schumann died 1847-1856 • Revolution & exile transformed Wagner’s career Romanticism and Realism Dominant trend in literature & art from 1850s on was realism – not Romanticism • Novelists Dickens, Trollope, Eliot, Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, & Howells • Painters Courbet & Eakins • French & Italian opera also more realistic Wagner’s music dramas not realistic at all • Much late 19th century music assumed an inspirational yet escapist function • Escape from political & economic conditions Late Romantic Program Music Liszt wrote a series of symphonic poems in the 1850s • A new genre – a one-movement orchestral work with a program in a free musical form • Word “poem” emphasized literary connection • Could be based on a poem, play, or other work • Liszt’s works include Les préludes & Hamlet • Gave new impetus to late Romantic music • Genre was used by Smetana, Chaikovsky, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Strauss, Sibelius, and others Pyotr Ilyich Chaikovsky (1840-1893) Music not a “respectable” Russian career • Chaikovsky was fortunate to study at the brand-new St. Petersburg Conservatory • Professor at Moscow Conservatory at 26 • Long subsidized by wealthy recluse Nadezhda von Meck – though they never met! A prolific composer • 6 symphonies, 11 operas, symphonic poems, chamber music, songs, concertos, ballets • One of the best-loved melodists in music history Chaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet One of several of his symphonic poems • Lengthy pieces in one movement • He uses free forms that adopt features of sonata form, rondo, & so on Romeo and Juliet followed outlines of the original play in a general way Easy to link themes to aspects of the play • Surging, Romantic melody for the two lovers • Angry, agitated theme for families’ enmity • Hymnlike theme for kindly Friar Laurence Romeo and Juliet Slow Introduction Introduction already heavy with drama Somber, solemn Hymn theme statements • In low clarinets & bassoons Anguished strings answer • Forecasting an unhappy outcome High woodwind announcement • Punctuated by strumming harp The above repeats & builds to a climax • Over dramatic drum roll Romeo and Juliet Allegro (1) Begins with fast Vendetta (Fate) theme • Short, vigorous rhythmic motives • Climax punctuated by cymbal claps Romeo and Juliet Allegro (2) Shifts to highly romantic Love theme • First heard in English horn & violas • Interrupted by a gentle sighing figure • Returns to Love theme in woodwinds Romeo and Juliet Allegro (3) Lively development section follows • Reminiscent of sonata form development • Battle between Vendetta & Hymn themes Romeo and Juliet Free Recapitulation (1) Vendetta theme returns in original form • Reminiscent of sonata form recapitulation Sighing motive & Love theme also return • Big, ecstatic statement of Love theme Romeo and Juliet Free Recapitulation (2) • Ending broken up & interrupted – a reference to the drama’s tragic outcome Vendetta & Hymn themes combine once more • They build to a huge climax & die down unwillingly Romeo and Juliet Coda Introduces transformations of Love theme Begins with broken version of Love theme • Over funeral drum taps in timpani Woodwinds sound an optimistic note • Transformation of sighing motive Harp strumming introduces Love theme • Beautiful new cadential version surges upward ecstatically • Suggestion that their love transcends death?
