Important Genres in Music

8/10/2019 Important Genres in Music

1/18

Opera

Where did the genre come from?/ Who was involved in its development?

Although the earliest operas date from the very end of the sixteenth century,

the association of music with drama goes back to ancient times. The choruses

and principal lyric speeches in the plays of Euripides and Sophocles were

sung, as well medieval liturgical dramas. Some renaissance plays incorporated

songs or sung choruses; others presented musical interludes known as

intermedi, between their acts. On important occasions at the Italian courts,

these intermedi became elaborate musical productions, with choruses, soloists,

large instrumental ensembles, and costumes and stage effects. Another source

for early opera was the pastoral drama, a play in verse with incidental music.

By the end of the sixteenth century, pastoral plays were very much in vogue at

Italian courts. The most popular was by the Ferrarese court poet Giovanni

Battista Guarini; hisIl pastor fido(The Faithful Shepherd, 190) not only was

performed as a theater piece, but also supplied lyrics for hundreds of madrigal

settings, including Monterverdis Cruda Amarili. Despite these musical and

theatrical precedents, however, opera might never have emerged without the

interest of humanist scholars, poets, musicians, and patrons in ancient Greek

tragedy. They hoped to revive the legendary ethical powers attributed to

ancient tragedy, which some believed was entirely sung, by creating modern

works that were equally powerful in performance. The prime mover behind

the idea that the entire text of a Greek tragedy was performed in song was

Girolamo Mei (1519-1594), a Florentine scholar who edited several Greek

dramas. He concluded that Greek music had consisted of a single melodic line

sung by a soloist or chorus, with or without accompaniment. Such delivery of

the text could evoke powerful emotional responses from the listeners through

the natural expressiveness of the voice via the register, rhythms and contours.


2/18

Mei communicated his ideas to colleagues in Florence, including Giovanni

deBardi (1534-1612), and Vicenzo Galilei (ca. 1520s-1591). From the early

1570s, Bardi hosted an informal academy at his palace in Florence where

scholars dicussed literature, science and the arts, and musicians performed

new music. Bardis young protg, Guilio Caccini (1551-1618) later referred

to this gathering as Bardis Camerata (circle of coterie). After Bardi moved

to Rome in 1592, discussions about ancient and modern music continued

under the sponsorship of Jacopo Corsi (1561-1602). Among the participants

were two veterabs of the 1589 intermedi, poet Ottavio Rinuccini (1562-1621)

and composer Jacop Peri (1561-1633). Convinced that Greek tragedies were

sung in their entirety, they set out to re-create the ancient genre in modern

form. They first experimented with Rinuccinis partoral poem Dafne.

Although only fragments of the music survived, this was the first opera: a

staged dram set entirely to music, with a new kind of singing designed

specifically for theatrical delivery.

Social situation involved?

Three important works from different periods in the genre

Rinuccinis more ambitious drama LEuridice (October 1600) was set to

music by Peri and Caccini and performed during the court festivities

celebrating the marriage of Maria deMedici to Henry IV of France.

LEuridice elaborated the well-known myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, giving

it a happy ending to suit the joyous occasion. The story demonstrated musics

power to move the emotions: through his singing, Orfeo (Orpheus) persuades

the gods of the underworld to restore his bride, Euridice, to life. Peri and

Caccini had similar approaches to theatrical music, but Caccinis setting is

more melodious and lyrical, resembling le nuove musiche, whereas Peris is


3/18

better suited to the drama because he found a new way to imitate speech and

varied his musical style according to the text and plot.

Glucks Orfeo (1762) exploits music and dramatic possibilities of libretto.

Gluck aspired to write music of a beautiful simplicity, which he realized in

the celebrated aria Che faro senza Euridice? (What shall I do without

Euridice?) from Orfeo and in other airs, choruses, and dances from the same

work. Gluck molded the music to the drama, intermingling recitatives, arias,

and choruses, in large unified scenes.

Though originally set to an Italian libretto, Orfeo ed Euridiceowes much to

the genre ofFrench opera,particularly in its use of accompaniedrecitative and

a general absence of vocal virtuosity.

Hector Berliozs great five-act opera Les Troyens (1856-58), partial premiere

in 1863, drew on grand opera but also on the older French opera tradition of

Lully, Rameau and Gluck. The text, by Berlioz himself, is based on the second

and fourth books of Virgils Aeneid. Les Troyens can be classified as an epic

opera (a work in which the story of a nation competes with the passions and

emotions of individual characters) The style is severe, almost ascetic by

comparison with Berliozs earier works, recalling the evocation of antiquity in

some of the works of French painter Jacques-Louis David.

Piano Sonata

Where did the genre come from?

In the Baroque era, sonata generally meant a multimovement work for a small

group of instruments, most often in trio texture. In the classic period, the word
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_operahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitativehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitativehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_opera


4/18

had different meanings for different composers. It also connoted

compositional procedure or form, first articulated by the German theorist

Heinrich Cristoph Koch. Koch describes sonata form as an expanded version

of binary form, which we have already encountered in the dances and dance

suites of the Baroque period. Also called first-movement form, this was the

most common plan for the first movement of a sonata, chamber work, or

symphony in the classic period. Koch details two large sections, each of which

may be repeated. The first section has one main period, moving from tonic to

dominant (or relative major in a minor key), and presents the principal ideas

organized into a series of smaller phrases. The second section has two main

periods: the first of these periods often begins with the opening theme on the

dominant before digressing harmonically and ending on the dominant chord in

preparation for the return of the tonic. This coincides with the final period,

which begins and ends on the tonic, although it typically parallels the first

section and for the most parts restates the same material.

Who was involved in its development? / Social situation involved?

Stimulated by the growing demand by amateurs for music that could be played

at home and in private gatherings, composers of the middle and late eighteenth

century produced great number of keyboard works, especially sonatas, which

were widely regarded as the most challenging and rewarding genre for

performers and listeners. Among the most prominent keyboard composers

active in the middle decades of the century, the Italian Domenico Scarlatti

(1685-1757) was also the most original and creative.


5/18


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'sPiano Sonata No. 10 inC major,K 330 (300h)

is among one of the three works in the cycle of piano sonatas K.330-332. The

sonata was composed in 1783, when Mozart was twenty-seven years old. A

typical performance of this sonata lasts around twenty minutes.

The sonata is in threemovements:

1.

Allegromoderato

2.Andante cantabile

3.

Allegretto

I: Allegro moderato[edit]

The first movement typically takes about five minutes to nine minutes to

perform. The movement shows a two clear major themes, which have been

decorated by the use of ornamentation, as was typical of the time.

The movement is composed of anexposition, a development and arecapitulation.

The first subject is in tonic key ofC majorand modulates to the dominant,G

major, for the exposition of the second subject. The development is more

intense and contains wider modulations. In the recapitulation, the first subject

is heard, again in C major. The music then modulates to G major, and then

returns to C major for the recapitulation of the second subject in the tonic key.

II: Andante cantbile

The second movement takes between five and seven minutes to perform. The

very end of the movement which Mozart wrote was misplaced in the

autograph.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozarthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_sonatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_sonatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6chel-Verzeichnishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._10_(Mozart)&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._10_(Mozart)&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piano_Sonata_No._10_(Mozart)&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6chel-Verzeichnishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_sonatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart


6/18

III: Allegretto

The third movement is the most energetic movement among the movements in

the sonata. Performance times range from three to five minutes. Use of

arpeggios is prevalent throughout the piece. Like the second movement, the

last few bars were lost in the autograph as well.

Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21inC major, Op. 53, known as

the Waldstein, is one of the three most notable sonatas of his middle

period (the other two being theAppassionata, Op. 57, andLes Adieux, Op.

81a). Completed in summer 1804 and surpassing Beethoven's previous piano

sonatas in its scope, the "Waldstein" is a key early work of Beethoven's

'Heroic' decade (18031812) and set a standard for piano composition in the

grand manner.

The sonata's name derives from Beethoven's dedication to his close friend and

patronCount Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein of Vienna.

Ist mov. Allegro con brio

The sonata opens with repeatedpianissimochords in a straightforward but

anxious rhythm, devoid of melody for two bars. It then swiftly ascends,

followed by a three-note descent in the middle register and a four-note descent

in the upper. The rhythm rumbles on until the notes seem almost to stumble

over themselves.

2nd movement-Introduzzione , adagio molto

TheIntroduzioneis a short Adagio in6/8 time that serves as an introduction to

the third movement. This replaced an earlier, longer middle movement, later
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven#The_three_periodshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven#The_three_periodshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._23_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._23_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._23_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._26_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._26_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._26_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Ferdinand_Ernst_Gabriel_von_Waldsteinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamics_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_timehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_timehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamics_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Ferdinand_Ernst_Gabriel_von_Waldsteinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._26_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._23_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven#The_three_periodshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven#The_three_periodshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven


7/18

published as theAndante favori,WoO 57. The music gradually gets more

agitated before calming down to segue into theRondo.

Third movement: Rondo. Al legretto moderato - Prestissimo

Opening bars of final movement

The Rondo begins with a pianissimo melody played with crossed hands that

soon returnsfortissimo, over daringly fast scales in the left hand and a

continuous trill on thedominant in the right, as described above. The second

theme, a series ofbroken chords in triplets, is soon interrupted by a turbulent

section in A minor that foreshadows the centralepisode.

The Piano Sonata in G major, D. 894(Op. 78) byFranz Schubert is

asonata for solo piano, completed in October 1826. The work is sometimes

called the "Fantasie", a title which the publisher Tobias Haslinger gave to the

first movement of the work, and not Schubert himself

I. Molto moderato e cantabile

G major

II. Andante

D major

III. Menuetto: Allegro moderato - Trio

B minor

Trio in B major

IV. Allegretto

G major

A typical performance runs approximately 35 minutes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andante_favorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WoOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamics_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_chordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episode_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schuberthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schuberthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episode_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_chordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamics_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WoOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andante_favori


8/18

Peter Pesic commented onDonald Francis Tovey's observation that Schubert

used a "circle of sixths" series of key signatures in the fourth movement of this

sonata, in the sequence G E B = C G = A .[4]

The opening theme of the third movement is remarkably similar to the second

theme of the first movement of Schuberts second Piano Trio both in rhythm

and in note progression.

Symphony

Where did the genre come from?Sonatas and orchestral compositions of similar form during the early part of

the eighteenth century (1730) adopted the overall shape of the Italian opera

overture or sinfonia, and also influenced by the late Baroque concerto, the

orchestral suite, and the trio sonata. About 1700, the overture had assumed a

three-movement structure in the order fast-slow-fast: an Allegro, a short

lyrical Andante, and a finale in a dance rhythm such as a minueto or a gigue.

Except insofar as such overtures incorporated contrast and drama into their

musical rhetoric, they usually had no thematic connection with the operas they

introduced and were played as independent pieces in concerts. It was a natural

step, then, for Italian composers to begin writing concert symphonies using

the general plan of opera overtures. The earliest of these, dating from around

1730, are equally indebted to the late Baroque concert, the orchestral suite,

and the trio sonata in details of structure, texture, and thematic style.

Who was involved in its development?

From Italy the symphony spread north to Germany, Austria, France and

England. Mannheim and Berlin were the principal German centers of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Francis_Toveyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_in_G_major,_D._894_(Schubert)#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_in_G_major,_D._894_(Schubert)#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_in_G_major,_D._894_(Schubert)#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Doubleflat.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_in_G_major,_D._894_(Schubert)#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Francis_Tovey


9/18

symphonic composition after 1740. Under the leadership of Bohemian

composer Johann Stamitz (1717-1757), The Mannheim Orchestra became

renowed all over Europe for its discipline and impecable technique, prompting

Charles Burney to call it an army of generals. It was also famous for its

astonishing and novel dynamic range from the softest pianissimo to the

loudest fortissimo- and for the thrilling sound of its crescendo, both effects

that Stamitz explioted in his music.

Stamitz was the first symphony composer to use consistently what

would later become the standard plan: four movements, with a minuet and trio

as the third movement, and a very fast finale, often marked Presto. He was

also among the first to introduce a strongly contrasting and full-blown theme

after the modulation to the dominant in the first section of an allegro

moevement, a practice that likewise became estndar.

The principal symphonist of the Berlin, or north German, school

clustered around Frederick the Great, who was himself a composer; Johann

Gottlieb Graun (1702/03-1771) and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)

were two of its chief members.

Other centers of symphonic activity included Vienna and Paris. In

Vienna, Georg Christipher Wagenseil (1715-1777) and others wrote

symphonies that feature pleasant lyricism and good humor, as well as the

contrasting first-movement theme groups that later became important

characteristics of Mozarts music. In Paris, an important center of composition

and publication in the mid-eighteenth century, symphonies flowed from the

citys presses. Foreign composers flocked to the city, including Sanmartini,

Stamitz and Wagenseil. The Belgian Francoise-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829)

came to Paris in 1751 and eventually established himself as one of Frances

leading composers of symphonies, string quartets, and comic operas. He


10/18

became one of the most popular composers of the Revolutionary period and

one of the first directors of the Paris Conservatoire.

Social situation?

Three important works from different periods in the genre?

One of the early works in this genre, the Symphony in F Major No. 32 (ca.

1740) by Giovanni Battista Sanmartini (1701-1775) of Milan, is scored for

two violins, viola and bass, played by cellos and probaly hapischord and

bassoon. There are three contrasting movements in the fast-slow-fast format,

each relatively short. The opening presto presents a variety of ideas in rapid

sucession, much like a Scarlatti keyboard sonata. It follows the first-

movement form described by Koch in a concise thirty-eight measures. Each

phrase of the form has one or two distinctive ideas, and their diversity helps to

make the structure clear.

Haydns symphony no. 92 in G Major (Oxford) illustrates many elements that

characterize his symphonic techniques. In the first movement, Haydn creates

contrasts between stability and instability, and each thematic area in the

exposition contains a variety of ideas. In the development, Haydn uses a

vaiety of techniques to manipulate motives from the exposition; he sometimes

disguised or played down the appearance of the recapitulation, which repeats

all themes in the tonic and often amplifies the transition. In the second

movement, Haydn usually offered songlike themes and simple forms to

contrast with the drama and complexity of the first movement. The minuet and

trio provided relaxation, since it was shorter tan the second movement, was

written in a more popular style. The finale, usually in sonata form, rondo


11/18

form, or sonata-rondo form, closes the symphony with a buildup of tension, a

climax, and a release.

Schuberts unfinished (No.8, 1822, in only two movements) has been called

the first truly romantic symphony by virtue of its songlike melodies, its

adventurous harmonic excursions, and its innovative colors and textures, all

pioneered in his Lieder. Schubert met his listeners expectations for

symphonic development while devoting the main thematic areas to the

presentation of memorable, seductive melodies like those of his songs. This

practice, to maintain the outward form of the symphony while infusing it with

more lyrical context, was a solution adopted by many romantic composers.

The first movement is in sonata form, development section begins qith quiet

restatement of the opening theme in the subdominant and rises a prolongued

climax in the same key.

The 2ndmov alternates 2 contrasting themes in sonatine form. The fragment of

scherzo intended as a third mov returns to B minor with a G major trio.

Concerto


The instrumental concerto was a new kind of orchestral composition,

developed in the 1680s and 1690s and destined to become the most important

type of Baroque instrumental music and to establish the orchestra as the

leading instrumental ensemble. Like the vocal concerto, it united two

contrasting forces into a harmonious whole in an instrumental version of the

concertato medium. It combined this texture with other traits favored at the

time: florid melody over a firm bass; musical organization base don tonality;


12/18

an multiple movements with contrasting tempos, modos and figurations.

Concertos were closely related to sonatas and served many of the same

purposes: they were played at public ceremonies, entertainments, and private

musical gatherings, and they could substitute for elements of the mass. By

1700, composers were writing three kinds of concertos. The first two types,

concert grosso and solo concerto, were more numerous and more important.

The concert grosso set a small ensemble (concertino) of solo instruments

against a large ensemble (concert grosso o ripieno, meaning full). In the solo

concert, a single instrument, most often a violin, contrasted witht he large

ensemble. The third type, the orchestral concerto, was a work in several

movements that emphasized the first violin part and the bass, distinguishing

the concert from the more contrapuntal texture of the sonata.

Who was involved in its development?/Social situation involved?

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Venice, though declining in

political power and headed for economic ruin, still remained the most

glamorous city in Europe. It was fullof tourists, tradespeople, intellectuals,

artists and musicians. Venice also nurtures a unique group of institutions that

were actually state-run shelters for chronically ill, por, or homeless children.

The Pio Ospedale della Pieta was one of such hospitals that provided quality

music education for women outside the convent and that became famous as

musical centers. From 1703 to 1740, Vivladi was conductor, composer,

teacher, and superintendent of musical instruments at the Pio Ospedale della

Pieta. His job required meeting the publics demand for new music. Vivaldi

was expected to furnish new oratorios and concertos for every church holiday

at the Pieta. Vivaldi included a remarkable range of colors and sonorities

through different groupings of solo and orchestral instruments. His orchestra


13/18

at the pieta probably consisted of twenty to twenty five string instruments,

with hapischord or organ for the continuo.

Three important Works from different periods in the genre

Vivaldis Il Cimento dellarmonia e dellinventione (The test of Harmony and

Invention, 1725) Op. 8, is one of his most famous concerto, specially the first

four, known as The Four Seasons. Each of these is accompanied by a sonnet,

perhaps written by Vivaldi himself, that describe the seasons, and the

concertos cleverly depict the images in the poetry, taking advantage of the

variety possible in ritornello forms. Thetextureof each concerto is varied,

each resembling its respective season. For example, "Winter" is peppered with

silverypizzicato notes from the high strings, calling to mind icy rain, whereas

"Summer" evokes a thunderstorm in its finalmovement, which is why the

movement is often called "Storm" (as noted in the list of derivative works)

Each one is in three movements, with a slow movement between two faster

ones (and these movements likewise vary in tempo amid the seasons as a

whole). At the time of writing The Four Seasons, the modern solo form of the

concerto had not yet been defined (typically a solo instrument and

accompanying orchestra) Vivaldi's original arrangement for solo violin with

string quartet andbasso continuo helped to define the form of the concerto

Mozarts Piano Concerto in A Major, k. 488 (1786) follows the traditional

three-movement pattern in the sequence fast-slow-fast. The first movement

contains the general features of a concertos Allegro (solo sections resembling

the exposition, developing and recapitulation of a sonata form, the opening

orchestral ritornello introduces the movements primary theme, among

others). The differences are in the details that make each first movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texture_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texture_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzicatohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzicatohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basso_continuohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basso_continuohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzicatohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texture_(music)


14/18

unique. The resulting form follows convention in most respects yet may

surprise the listener with several individual features.

In Beethovens Piano Concerto No. 5 in Eb Major, Op. 73 (The Emperor;

1809), Beethoven greatly expanded the music expressive range and

dimensions. At times, the soloist seems pitted against the orchestra, as if

playing the part of a lone hero contending with opposite forces. In the first

movement, the soloist enters with a written out cadenza-like passage even

before the orchestras exposition begins. Such contrast between soloist and

orchestra, rather than cooperation (as in the original meaning of concerto),

was to become a common feature of nineteenth-century concertos.

String Quartet


The origins of the string quartet can be traced back to theBaroquetrio sonata,

in which twosolo instruments performed with acontinuo section consisting of

abass instrument (such as the cello) andkeyboard.A very early example is a

four-part sonata for string ensemble byGregorio Allegri (15821652) that

might be considered an important prototype string quartet. By the early 18th

century, composers were often adding a third soloist; and moreover it became

common to omit the keyboard part, letting the cello support the bass line

alone. Thus whenAlessandro Scarlatti wrote a set of six works entitled

"Sonata Quattro per due Violini, Violetta [viola], e Violoncello senza

Cembalo" (Sonata for four instruments: two violins, viola, and cello without

harpsichord), this was a natural evolution from existing tradition

Who was involved in its development?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trio_sonatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solo_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basso_continuohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_instrumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_instrumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorio_Allegrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Scarlattihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Scarlattihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorio_Allegrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_instrumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_instrumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basso_continuohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solo_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trio_sonatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_music


15/18

The string quartet rose to prominence with the work of J. Haydn. Haydn's own

discovery of the quartet form appears to have arisen essentially by accident.

Quartet composition flourished in the Classical era,

withMozart,Beethoven andSchubert writing famous series of quartets to set

alongside Haydn's. A slight slackening in the pace of quartet composition

occurred in the 19th century; here, composers often wrote only one quartet,

perhaps to show that they could fully command this hallowed genre,

althoughAntonn Dvokwrote a series of 14. With the onset of the Modern

era of classical music, the quartet returned to full popularity among composer,

and played a key role in the development ofArnold Schoenberg,Bla Bartk,

andDmitri Shostakovich especially. After WWII, some composers, such

asPierre Boulez andOlivier Messiaen questioned the relevance of the string

quartet and avoided writing them. However, from the 1960s onwards, many

composers have shown a renewed interest in the genre.


The sixstring quartetsopus 20 byJoseph Haydn are among the works that

earned Haydn the sobriquet "the father of the string quartet.

The quartets, written in 1772, were composed at a time of tensions in Haydn's

life, and also at a time when Haydn was influenced by new philosophical and

political ideas that were sweeping Europe. Some analysts see the impact of the

emotions and ideas ofSturm und Drang in the quartets.

While the first movement is in straightforwardsonata-allegro form, Haydn

nonetheless breaks with the standard quartet model of the period. The second

theme of the exposition is presented by the cello, rather than the violin,

playing in a high register above the viola accompaniment. Haydn also

disguises the return to the recapitulation after the development section of the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music_erahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozarthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schuberthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schoenberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Shostakovichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Boulezhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Messiaenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturm_und_Dranghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturm_und_Dranghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturm_und_Dranghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Messiaenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Boulezhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Shostakovichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schoenberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schuberthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozarthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music_era


16/18

movement:[22]after only three bars of development, Haydn returns to the

theme in the tonic, suggesting the beginning of the recapitulation; but instead,

deviates into a series of transpositions, finally sneaking back to the main

theme when least expected. Haydn uses this trick of a pretended recap in

others of the opus 20 quartets.

The second movement is a minuet, one of two from the set that follow all the

rules of the traditional dance (the other is the minuet of number 6). The third

movement is marked "Affettuoso e sostenuto", written in A-flat major as an

aria, with the first violin carrying the melody throughout. The finale,

markedpresto, is built on a six-measure phrase, with extensive use of

syncopations in the first violin. In the middle of the movement there is an

extended passage where the first violin plays syncopations and the other

instruments are playing on the second beat of the 2/4 bar; no one plays on the

downbeat, and toward the end of the passage the listener loses track of the

meter, until the main theme returns.

The String Quartet No. 2 in A minor,Op. 13, was composed byFelix

Mendelssohnin 1827.[1]Written when he was 18 years old, it was, despite its

official number, Mendelssohn's first string quartet. The quartet draws much of

its inspiration fromBeethoven'squartets.

This work has fourmovements:

1.

AdagioAllegro vivace2.

Adagio non lento

3.Intermezzo:Allegretto con motoAllegro di molto

4.

PrestoAdagio non lento

A typical performance lasts about 30 minutes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartets,_Op._20_(Haydn)#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartets,_Op._20_(Haydn)#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartets,_Op._20_(Haydn)#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_terminologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_terminologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_terminologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_terminologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermezzohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermezzohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermezzohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_terminologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_(music)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Mendelssohnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opus_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartets,_Op._20_(Haydn)#cite_note-22


17/18

The three-note motif from "Ist es wahr?", presented in an opening Adagio in

the key of A Major, establishes the cyclic form of the quartet; the motif

appears in all four of the movements, and concludes the quartet.[4]After the

Adagio introduction, the quartet breaks into a tumultuousAllegro

VivaceinSonata form in A minor. So the quartet, which is mostly in minor

keys, and is primarily minor in character, opens and closes in a major keya

rather daring departure from standard quartet-writing practice of the time. The

opening closely resembles Beethoven'sOp. 132 quartet:[5]that quartet, also,

has an opening adagio, then a first theme built of running sixteenth notes and a

lyrical passage, which is close to an inversion of Mendelssohn's theme.

The Adagio movement has a middle slow, fugal section which is modelled

after the fugal middle section of the slow movement of Beethoven'sOp. 95.

The subjects of both fugues are sinuous melodies that slide down

chromatically, moving from viola to second violin and then to the other

voices. Like the Beethoven model, the fugue goes through a series of

increasingly complex variations with cross-rhythms in the different

instruments.

The Intermezzo movement opens with a light, gossamer theme which is

Mendelssohn's signature style. The lilting theme in the first violin, with

pizzicato accompaniment in the other instruments, recalls theoverture to the

incidental music toA Midsummer Night's Dream(op. 61) and scherzo

movements from many of Mendelssohn's chamber works.

The Stri ng Quartet No. 1 in A minorbyBla Bartk was completed in 1909.

The score is dated January 27 of that year.

The work is in three movements, played without breaks between each:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._15_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._11_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(Mendelssohn)#Overturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(Mendelssohn)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(Mendelssohn)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(Mendelssohn)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(Mendelssohn)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(Mendelssohn)#Overturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._11_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._15_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._2_(Mendelssohn)#cite_note-4


18/18

1.

Lento

2.Allegretto(sometimes referred to asPoco a poco accelerando

all'allegretto) - Introduzione

3.

Allegro vivace

The work was at least in part inspired by Bartk's unrequited love for the

violinistStefi Geyer - in a letter to her, he called the first movement a "funeral

dirge" and its opening notes trace a motif which first appeared in his Violin

Concerto No. 1, a work dedicated to Geyer and suppressed by Bartk for

many years. The intense contrapuntal writing of this movement is often

compared toLudwig van Beethoven'sString Quartet No. 14, the opening

movement of which is a slowfugue.

The following two movements are progressively faster, and the mood of the

work lightens considerably, ending quite happily. The third movement is

generally considered to be the most typical of Bartk's mature style, including

early evidence of his interest in Hungarianfolk music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefi_Geyerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_No._1_(Bart%C3%B3k)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_No._1_(Bart%C3%B3k)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterpointhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._14_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No._14_(Beethoven)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterpointhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_No._1_(Bart%C3%B3k)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Concerto_No._1_(Bart%C3%B3k)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefi_Geyer

Documents

Important Genres in Music