THE CLASSICAL MUSIC (1775-1825)
The Baroque period culminated in the
masterpieces of J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel. In the middle of the eighteenth
century, contemporaneous with the mature years of Bach and Handel, a new
musical style developed that is known as Rococo or pre-classical style. This
style is most evident in keyboard and orchestral music, but it is mentioned
here because it represented a transition from the Baroque to the Classical era,
occurring between 1725 and 1770.
In the world of painting, Rococo style is
characterized by delicate colors, many decorative details, and a graceful and
intimate mood. Similarly, music in the Rococo style is homophonic and light in
texture, melodic, and elaborately ornamented. In France, the term for this was style
galant (gallant or elegant style) and in Germany empfindsamer stil (sensitive
style). François Couperin (1668-1733), in France, and two of the sons of J. S.
Bach, C. P. E. Bach (1714-1788) and Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782), in
Germany, were important composers of music in the Rococo style.
In the second half of the eighteenth century,
a reaction against Rococo style occurred. There were objections to its lack of
depth and to the use of decoration and ornamentation for their own sake. This
led to the development of Classical style.
The Classical period itself lasted from
approximately 1775 to 1825. The name classical is applied to the period because
in art and literature, there was keen interest in, admiration for, and
emulation of the classical artistic and literary heritage of Greece and Rome.
Intellectually, this era has also been
labeled the Age of Enlightenment. Philosophers such as Rousseau, Voltaire, and
Montesquieu wrote of the value of the common person and the power of human
reasoning in overcoming the problems of the world. This revolution in thinking
inevitably led to conflict between the old order and new ideas. The French and
American revolutions in the last quarter of the eighteenth century were
stimulated by this new attitude.
The musical scene in the classical period
reflected the changes occurring in the society in which the music was being
written. This was the first era in music history in which public concerts
became an important part of the musical scene. Music was still being composed for
the church and the court, but the advent of public concerts reflected the new
view that music should be written for the enjoyment and entertainment of the
common person.
Unlike the Renaissance or Baroque eras, which
included many important composers and trends, the choral music of the classical
era was dominated by three composers: Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). For the first
time, during the Classical period most of the important stylistic advances that
occurred can be observed most clearly in the instrumental forms: the symphony,
concerto, sonata, and in instrumental chamber music (e.g., the Beethoven string
quartets). Church music tended to be more conservative than secular compositions,
which also helps to explain why stylistic innovations were seen most clearly in
instrumental music but were less prevalent in the choral music of the period.
Choral and instrumental forms overlapped
during the Classical period to an unprecedented degree. Forms developed in the
instrumental area were appropriated and used to good effect in choral music.
Sonata allegro form, for example, often found in sonata or symphony movements,
is also used in sections of classical masses. Beethoven included choral
sections in two instrumental works, his Choral Fantasia and the Ninth Symphony.
This period in music history is sometimes
referred to as "the Viennese Classic period," and it was centered in
Vienna. Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart, though none was a native Viennese, all
worked in Vienna for significant periods in their careers. Although Vienna was
the focal point for musical activity of the period, classical music is not
parochial but universal in spirit and in style.
Important Forms
Important forms of choral music during the
classical period included the following:
Mass. The mass continued to be an important
form for each of the three primary Classical composers. During the Classical
period, masses involved orchestra, soloists, and choir in a fully integrated
work, utilizing organizational principles derived from instrumental forms.
Missa Brevis. This concise treatment of the
mass text may consist of strictly delimited development, simultaneous setting
of several lines of text, or the omission of certain sections of the mass.
Missa Solemnis. When choral musicians refer
to the Missa Solemnis they are usually speaking of Beethoven's Mass in D Major,
a milestone in the development of choral music. In a broader sense, however,
the term refers to a more elaborate and extended musical treatment of the mass
text than that employed in the Missa Brevis.
Oratorio. The Baroque oratorio tradition,
begun by Carissimi and culminating in the works of Handel, was continued in the
Classical period primarily by Haydn, who wrote two oratorios, The Creation and The
Seasons, which have remained an important part of the choral repertoire.
Requiem. Although many musical settings of
the Requiem were composed during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the
Classical period produced a setting by Mozart (completed by a student following
Mozart's death) that has become a staple of the choral repertoire and two
settings by Cherubini that are also often performed.
Vespers. Mozart wrote two settings of this
service each of which includes psalms and the Magnificat, written for choir,
quartet of soloists, and orchestra.
Choral Symphony. A symphony which includes
sections written for choir and orchestra. The earliest and probably best known
example of this is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, incorporating choir and soloists
in the fourth movement.
Composers
Haydn. Franz Joseph Haydn was born in the
Rohrau, Austria, in 1732. At age eight he was accepted as a choirboy at St.
Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. When he left St. Stephen's in 1749, he became an
assistant to Nicola Porpora. In 1759, he worked briefly as musical director for
Count Morzin, and in 1761 was employed as assistant music director and then
music director for the Esterhazy family, residing at their estate. He remained
with the Esterhazys for nearly thirty years, until 1790.
During the last decade of the eighteenth
century, Haydn made two trips to London. He had been hired by Johann Peter
Salomon to compose and conduct six symphonies for his first trip (1791-1792)
and six for his second (1794-1795). Haydn's London appearances were highly
successful.
Upon his return to Vienna in 1795, Haydn
composed some of his most significant choral music. The six masses from this
period, composed for Prince Nicholas Esterhazy (the son of Haydn's earlier employer),
and his two oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons, are his most significant
choral works. Haydn's total choral output included twelve masses, three
oratorios, a passion, two Te Deums, a Stabat Mater, and a few other smaller
works.
In his later years, Haydn was a celebrity
whose works were widely recognized and appreciated, in contrast to the decades
spent in the relative isolation of the Esterhazy estate. He died in 1809 in
Vienna.
Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in
Salzburg, Austria, in 1756. At the age of six, he could play the harpsichord
and violin, compose, and performed in Munich and Vienna. Between the ages of
six and fifteen, Mozart was taken on tours of Europe and England, organized by
his father, Leopold Mozart, a Salzburg court composer. Although he was away
from home more than half of the time, he produced a steady stream of
compositions during this period.
In 1781, Mozart left Salzburg and moved to
Vienna, teaching, concertizing, traveling, and continuing to compose constantly.
In contrast to Haydn, who worked in the isolation and relative obscurity of the
Esterhazy estate for many years and then became an international celebrity in
his sixties, Mozart was thrust into international prominence as a child and
encountered decreasing public acceptance of his music when he was an adult.
By 1791, Mozart's health was failing. He
received a commission that resulted in the composition of The Magic Flute. He
was also visited by a representative of a Count Walsegg, who commissioned a requiem.
Mozart may have believed he was writing a requiem for himself. He died before
completing the work, and it was finished by a pupil of Mozart's named
Sussmayer, working from Mozart's sketches of the unfinished portion.
Mozart's choral output includes eighteen
masses, the Requiem, two Vespers settings, and a variety of shorter choral
pieces. Beethoven. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in
Bonn, Germany, in 1770. He came to Vienna in 1792, where he studied with Haydn
and Albrechtsberger. His first public performances in Vienna as a pianist and
composer came in 1795.
Beethoven protested against the patronage
system that bound musicians to the service of an employer.
Increasingly deaf,
Beethoven eventually was forced to retire from public performance and to concentrate
on composition. Unlike Mozart, who seemed to conceive of music in final form
and who simply wrote down his conceptions, Beethoven's sketchbooks provide a
record of his agonizing struggle to arrive at a composition he felt was
satisfactory.
Beethoven was primarily a composer of
instrumental music, and it is in his symphonies, piano music, and string
quartets that the transition from Classic to Romantic style is most clearly
discernible. Nevertheless, his choral music is an important part of the repertoire,
and his Mass in D Major, the Missa Solemnis, is one of the monuments of Western
musical tradition. Beethoven's choral output included two masses, an oratorio,
two symphonic works with large choral sections and a few smaller pieces.
Classical Style
Music from the Classical period is
distinctive in style from what preceded and followed it. Some of the questions
related to performance practice in Renaissance and Baroque music are less
complex because at this point in Music history we have much clearer and more
explicit indications from the composer concerning the tempo, dynamics, and
expressive qualities of the Music under consideration.
Moreover, there have been public performances
of this repertoire from the time of its composition to the present. This is
both a help and a hindrance in light of the fact that through the last two
centuries, certain Romantic conventions have become an accepted part of the
performance of this music, and they are not always appropriate to authentic
Classical style (this same Problem of inappropriate performance conventions
added during the Romantic period exists with Baroque repertoire and, to a
lesser extent, music from the Renaissance).
Classical choral music tends to be more homophonic and
lighter in texture than that of the Baroque. This lightness needs to pervade
the choral lines. There is still rhythmic energy and drive, but without the
weightiness of Baroque music.
The lighter quality of Classical music also
is derived from its slower harmonic movement. Baroque music, with its emphasis
on vertical structure and use of figured bass and basso continuo, is
characterized by frequent harmonic changes, sometimes on every beat. Classical
music changes chords much less frequently, giving it a more graceful sweep and
lightness of phrasing than that created by the pulsating feel of a
harpsichordist realizing a Baroque figured bass part, supporting the choral
singing with rapidly changing embellished chords. During the Classic period,
the keyboard player was no longer typically the composer/ conductor, but
instead was simply one of the players in the orchestra. The keyboard part
should be much less obtrusive and less highly decorated than that of a Baroque
work.
The choral music of the Classic period is
generally conservative, and therefore often contains sections of free
counterpoint, fugue, and use of continuo, reminiscent of the Baroque. This is
particularly true in the music written in the early part of the period.
The Classical era was an era of formality.
The music was characterized by careful attention to form and by elegance and
restraint. The formal structure was based on the use of thematic development
and harmonic structure.
The music of the Classical era is
characterized by objectivity. While emotion is an important aspect of all
music, in the Classical period, emotions were carefully controlled. This
control is evident in the use of dynamics and expressive differences within
sections or movements of a composition. The Baroque notion of terraced
dynamics, coupled with the expression of a single emotion in a given section of
a composition, was replaced by the classical trait of varying the emotional
content of a given movement, section, or even a measure of a piece. Dynamically
speaking, this was accomplished through the use of crescendo and decrescendo.
Definition as a formal model
A
sonata-allegro movement is divided into sections. Each section is felt to
perform specific functions in the musical argument. It
may begin with an introduction, which is, in general, slower than the main
movement. In terms of structure, introductions are an upbeat before the main
musical argument.
The
first required section is the exposition. The exposition presents the primary thematic
material for the movement: one or two themes or theme groups, often in contrasting styles and in
opposing keys, connected by a modulating transition. The exposition
typically concludes with a closing theme, a codetta, or both.
The
development then re-transitions back to the recapitulation where the thematic material returns in the tonic key, and for the recapitulation to complete the musical
argument, material that has not been stated in the tonic key is
"resolved" by being played, in whole or in part, in the tonic.
The
movement may conclude with a coda,
beyond the final cadence of the recapitulation.
The
term 'sonata form' is controversial and has been called misleading by scholars
and composers almost from its inception. Its originators implied that there was
a set template to which Classical and Romantic composers aspired, or should aspire.
However,
sonata form is presently viewed as a model for musical analysis, rather than
compositional practice. Although the descriptions on this page could be
considered an adequate analysis of many first-movement structures, there are
enough variations that theorists such as Charles Rosen have felt them to
warrant the plural in 'Sonata forms.'[7]
These
variations include, but are not limited to:
- a monothematic exposition,
where the same material is presented in different keys, often used by Haydn;
- a 'third subject group' in a
different key than the other two, used by Schubert, Brahms, and Bruckner;
- the first subject recapitulated
in the 'wrong' key, often the subdominant, as in Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 in C,
K. 545 and Schubert's third symphony;
- The second subject group
recapitulated in a key other than tonic, as in Richard Strauss's 2nd symphony.
- And an extended coda section
that pursues developmental, rather than concluding, processes, often found
in Beethoven's
middle-period works, such as his third symphony.
Through
the Romantic period, formal distortions and variations become so widespread (Mahler, Elgar and Sibelius among others are cited and studied by James Hepokoski) that 'sonata form' as it is outlined here is
not adequate to describe the complex musical structures that it is often
applied to.
In
the context of the many late-Baroque extended binary forms that bear similarities to sonata
form, sonata form can be distinguished by the following three characteristics:[6]
- a separate development section
including a retransition
- the simultaneous return of the
first subject group and the tonic
- a full (or close to full)
recapitulation of the second subject group
Outline of sonata form
The
standard description of the sonata form is:
Introduction
The
Introduction section is optional, or may be reduced to a minimum. If it is
extended, it is, in general, slower than the main section, and frequently
focuses on the dominant key. It may or
may not contain material that is later stated in the exposition. The
introduction increases the weight of the movement, and also permits the composer
to begin the exposition with a theme that would be too light to start on its
own, as in Haydn's Symphony No. 103 ("The
Drumroll") and Beethoven's Quintet for
Piano and Winds Op. 16. The introduction usually is not included in
the exposition repeat.
On
occasion, the material of introduction reappears in its original tempo later in
the movement. Often, this occurs as late as the coda, as in Mozart's String
Quintet in D major K. 593, Haydn's "Drumroll" Symphony, or
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8
("Pathétique").
Exposition
The
primary thematic material for the movement is presented in the Exposition. This
section can be further divided into several sections. The same section in most
sonata form movements has prominent harmonic and thematic parallelisms
(although in some works from the 19th century and onward, some of these
parallelisms are subject to considerable exceptions), which include:
First
theme (G major) and transition (to D major) from Haydn's Keyboard Sonata, Hob. XVI: G1, I, mm. 1–12. First
subject group, P (Prime) – this consists of one or more themes, all of them in the tonic key. Although some pieces are
written differently, most follow this form.
Start
of second subject (D major) of Haydn's Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI: G1, I, mm.
13–16.
- Transition, T – in this section the composer modulates
from the key of the first subject to the key of the second. If the first
group is in a major key, the second group will usually be in the dominant
key. However, if the first group is in minor key, the second group will
usually be the relative major.
End
of second subject and Codetta (D major) of Haydn's Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:
G1, I, mm. 17–28.
Second
subject group, S
– one or more themes in a different key from the first group. The material of
the second group is often different in rhythm or mood from that of the first
group (frequently, it is more lyrical).
- Codetta, K – the purpose of this is to bring the
exposition section to a close with a perfect cadence in the same
key as the second group. It is not always used, and some works end the
exposition on the second subject group. The exposition is commonly
repeated, particularly in classical works, and more likely in solo or
chamber works than for concerti. Often, though not always, the last
measure or measures of the exposition are slightly different between the
repeats, one to point back to the tonic, where the exposition began, and
the second to point towards the development.
Development
Development
Haydn's Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI: G1, I, mm. 29–53 .
In
general, the development starts in the same key as the exposition ended, and
may move through many different keys during its course. It will usually consist
of one or more themes from the exposition altered and on occasion juxtaposed
and may include new material or themes – though exactly what is acceptable
practice is a point of contention. Alterations include taking material through
distant keys, breaking down of themes and sequencing of motifs, and so forth.
The
development varies greatly in length from piece to piece and from time period
to time period, sometimes being relatively short compared to the exposition
(e.g., the first movement of Eine kleine Nachtmusik,
K 525/i by Mozart) and in other cases
quite long and detailed (e.g., the first movement of the "Eroica" Symphony
by Beethoven). Developments
in the classical era are typically shorter due to how much composers of that
era valued symmetry, unlike the more expressive romantic era in which
development sections gain a much greater importance. However, it almost always
shows a greater degree of tonal, harmonic, and rhythmic
instability than the other sections. In a few cases, usually in late Classical
and early Romantic concertos, the development section consists of or ends with
another exposition, often in the relative minor of the tonic key.
At
the end, the music will usually return to the tonic key in preparation of the
recapitulation. (On occasion it will actually return to the sub-dominant key
and then proceed with the same transition as in the exposition). The transition
from the development to the recapitulation is a crucial moment in the work.
Retransition
Haydn's Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI: G1, I, mm. 54
The
last part of the development section is called the retransition: It
prepares for the return of the first subject group in the tonic, most often
through a grand prolongation of the dominant seventh. In addition, the character of the music
would signal such a return
Exceptions
include the first movement of Brahms's Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 1. The general key of the
movement is C major, and it would then follow that the re-transition should
stress the dominant seventh chord on G. Instead, it
builds in strength over the dominant seventh chord on C, as if the music were
proceeding to F major, only to take up immediately the first theme in C major.
Occasionally,
the re-transition can begin with a false recapitulation, in which the opening
material of the first theme group is presented in a key other than the tonic.
The surprise that ensues when the music continues to modulate toward the tonic
can be used for either comic or dramatic effect.
Recapitulation
Recapitulation
Haydn's Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI: G1, I, mm. 58–80.
The
Recapitulation is an altered repeat of the exposition, and consists of:
- First subject group – normally given prominence as the highlight of a
recapitulation, it is usually in exactly the same key and forms as in the
exposition.
- Transition – Often the transition is carried out by introducing
novel material, a kind of brief additional development section; this is
called a secondary development.
- Second subject group – usually in roughly the same form as in the
exposition, but now in the home key, which sometimes involves change of
mode from major to minor, or vice versa, as occurs in the first movement
of Mozart's Symphony No. 40
(K. 550). More often, however, it may be recast in the parallel major of the home key (for example, C major when
the movement is in C minor like Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, op. 67/I). Key here is more important than mode (major or minor) –
the recapitulation provides the needed balance even if the material's mode
is changed, so long as there is no longer any key conflict.
Exceptions
to the recapitulation form include Mozart and Haydn
works that often begin with the second subject group when the first subject
group has been elaborated at length in the development.
After
the closing cadence, the musical argument proper is said to be completed. If
the movement continues, it is said to have a coda.
Coda
The
Coda is optional. After the final cadence of the recapitulation, the movement
may continue with a coda which will contain material from the movement
proper. Codas, when present, vary considerably in length, but like
introductions is not part of the "argument" of the work. The coda
will end, however, with a perfect authentic cadence
in the original key. Codas may be quite brief tailpieces, or they may be very
long and elaborate. An example of the more extended type is the coda to the
first movement of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony.
Explanations
for why an extended coda is present vary. One reason may be to omit the repeat
of the development and recapitulation sections found in earlier sonata forms of
the eighteenth century. Indeed, Beethoven's extended codas often serve the
purpose of further development of thematic material. Another role that these
codas sometimes serve is to return to the minor mode in minor-key movements
where the recapitulation proper concludes in the parallel major, as in the
first movements of Beethoven's 5th Symphony or Schumann's Piano Concerto - or,
rarely, to restore the home key after an off-tonic recapitulation, such as in
the first movements of Brahms' Clarinet Quintet and Dvorak's Symphony No. 9.
