FAAH 245 Notes Final Exam, Fall 2011

1- OPERA (Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi, Puccini, Wagner):  Verdi: o 1st opera: Oberto produced in La Scala in Milan. In 1893 he completed his last opera Falstaff, he was 80 years old o Transformed the conventional Italian opera through a more colorful, powerful and eloquent orchestral music, while keeping the voice at the musical center of gravity o He used a chorus in some of his operas: Nabucco (made him a national hero for expressing the Italians' yearning for freedom) and I Lombardi o After Aida, he wrote no operas for 16 years (this happened when Italian theaters opened their doors for French and German operas). He wrote Messa da Requiem (non operatic) o In 1950s and 60s his operas became the core repertory of global opera industry Major Operas: Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata (LISTENING), Aida, Otello  Giacomo Puccini and the verismo movement o Verismo: violent, passionate realism. Characterized by the true-to-life portrayal of rural or urban poverty.1st appeared in Italian literature at the end of 19th c. and the beginning of 20th c. Although subjects are often melodramatically treated the characters are alive. Mascagni first established this tradition in his Cavalleria Rusticana in 1988 o His operas kept alive because of his marvelous sense of theater, melodic gift, and his emotional sincerity o Major Operas: La Boheme (Versimo), Tosca (Versimo), Madame Butterfly (Versimo, LISTENING).  Richard Wagner, and the universal artwork: o Was not just a composer, he was a music dramatist trying to unite poetic drama, music, scenery and dance into a universal artwork (Gesamtkunstwerk in German). This view of Opera is similar to the ideal ancient Greek drama. o He created everything on his own: plot, characters, text, symbolism and music o Der Ring des Nibelunger (The Ring of the Nibelung): a quartet of musical drama. It has a pragmatic message: man destroys himself through his craving (passion) for money and power. It took him 28 years o He emphasized on opera as a drama with shift of focus from the voice to the orchestra. His music expressed the drama and revealed the psychology of the characters. He revolutionized the technique of composition and led to Shonberg's and Berg's Expressionism. o Listening: Tristan and Isolde (Libestod) 2- ORCHESTRAL MUSIC:  Hector Berlioz: the ultimate Romantic o Composed Symphonie Fantastique 3 years after Beethoven’s death o Symphonie Fantastique 1st movement (Listening): un-Beethovenian work with a literary program about unrequited love based on his personal experience. Subtitle: Epidodes in the life of an artist o Established “program symphony” as a genre, in which the composer outlinesthe events and moods expressed in each movement in the symphony o Three other program symphonies: Harold en Italie, Romeo et Juliette, and Symphonie funebre et triomphale o Composed choral works: operas cantatas, and songs… some are related to literature in the true Romantic tradition o He turned to journalism to support his family o Influenced musicians such as Liszt and Wagner  Tchaikovsky: the most famous Russian composer o Rapid progress, being appointed as professor of harmony at Moscow Conservatory. He thus immersed himself in composition, and by 30, produced a symphony, an opera, a symphonic poem, and his famous orchestra Romeo and Juliet Overture o Greatest master of classical ballet: Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty o Listening: Swan Lake, Piano Concerto No.1 in B Flat Minor 1st movement 3- PIANO MUSIC: Chief exponents: Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms  Fryderyk Chopin: the innovator o Originality was clear in La ci darem la mano Variations of Op.2 for piano and orchstra o Signed and dated two works called “Exercise 1” and “Exercise 2” in 1830, which became the 1st two Etudes of his Op.10 and are different in structure and revolutionary in concept compared to Classical Studies of Czerny and Cramer o By 1840, he explored old forms and built new structures (from their elements) that became his own: his Nocturnes, Ballades, Scherzi, and Preludes o He surpassed his previous masterpieces through greater harmonic subtlety (refinement) and a refinement of the already refined. o Greatest period: last 8 years, produces chef-d’oeuvres as the Fourth Ballade, the Berceuse, and the Polonaise-Fantasie. o Listening: Scerzo No.2 in B flat minor, Nocturne in F sharp major No.2…  Franz List: the greatest instrumental virtuoso o Due to his lack of formal schooling, he began an intensive course of self-education o He was a piano master, spent 8 years touring Europe as the greatest piano composer in the musical world o Reputation as a significant composer was established after he settled in Weimar (central Germany) as a music director, where he had his most productive period: the Piano Sonata, two piano concertos… o His life, governed by the passions of music, love, and religion, was inextricably linked to his work o LISTENING: Transcendental etude No.10 in F minor , Liebestraum No.3 4- CHORAL MUSIC:  Franz Schubert: founder of the Romantic lied o Major Works + Listening: Gretchen am Spinnrade, Erlkonig, String Quartet No.14 Death and the Maiden  Johanns Brahms: the Classical Romanticist o Listening: Ein deutsches Requiem, 4th movement, Clarinet Quintet in B minor 2nd movement 5- CHAMBER MUSIC:  Robert Schumann: the poet o Wrote exclusively piano until 1840 when he married the pianist Clara Wieck o Made impact through his piano pieces: Carnaval, Papillons, Etudes symphoniques… o During 1840, he turned to song and produced more than half of his output, the next year he focused on orchestral music, and then moved to chamber music in 1842 o Chamber output: Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet (1842) o Listening: Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, 1st movement  Johannes Brahmas and his last works: o Intended his Quintet in G major to be his last composition after 40 years of chamber music writing o In 1891 he heard the Meiningen Court Orchestra and was astonished by the beauty of the playing of the 37-year-old clarinetist Richard Muhlfeld. Thus he wrote 4 chamber works with clarinet (2 for Muhlfeld), one of them was Clarinet Quintet in B minor, 2nd movement. o Thematic richness, profound (deep) range, intensity and originality of expression are products of a life-long involvement with chamber music. o Last phase of work: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, plus Clarinet Trio in A minor