Listening Guide 1 - Mozart K.550

Mozart’s Symphony in G Minor, No. 40 (K550) was completed on July 25, 1788 in Vienna. Mozart has 626 pieces cataloged in total, and Mozart died on December 5, 1791, so Symphony No. 40 was composed near the end of Mozart’s life. Mozart's music falls into the Classical Period.

The beginning: Mozart was born in 1756. W.A. Mozart mastered his first piece before his fifth birthday. His father, Leopold Mozart jotted down in a journal that it took less than 30 minutes for Mozart to learn it. Leopold had immediate aims of continuing the musical education of W.A. Mozart, and his older sister, Anna Marie Mozart, who he took on their first tour to Munich in 1762. From the earliest stages, W.A. Mozart was celebrated as a prodigy of music.

Around the time of the composition: One of Mozart’s most famous compositions, Eine kleine Nachtmusik (K. 525) was composed in 1787, just one year before. Another of Mozart’s famous compositions, Don Giovanni (K. 527) premiered in the same year as Symphony No. 40, which ran for 15 performances at the National Court Theater. In the world during this time, the United States Constitution was being ratified.

About the composition: The form of the fourth movement of Symphony No. 40, and one of the most significant forms in the history of music, is the Sonata form. Starting in the late Baroque period, Sonata form has been widely used by composers and appreciated by theorists for now, hundreds of years. Some composers that frequently used Sonata form are Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Sonata form usually consists of an introduction, exposition, development, recapitulation, and coda.

The exposition introduces the main theme, transitions to a closely related key, introduces a secondary theme, and closes in a codetta, or short closing music, ending in a perfect authentic cadence in the new key, as to set up the development section.
First theme: (click on any picture to enlarge)

Second theme:


The development section contains sections of the first and second theme, altering them by modulating through new key regions, introducing or modifying motives, and occasionally juxtaposing, or melding themes together, creating a section of interesting and less stable rhythm and tonality, returning or ‘retransitioning’ to the original key of the piece, setting up for the recapitulation.
Developing the first theme at the beginning of the development:

The most beautiful feature of this famous work, is that the development section movies through three key regions and then comes a rapid spurt of fifteen keys and key regions (including borrowed keys and remote keys) over the course of 50 measures (m.151-201) before finally cadencing in the home key, g minor.

The recapitulation ‘recaps’ or restates the first theme, and transitions to the secondary theme, now in the ‘home’ key rather than a closely related key regaining stability to the piece, and thus setting the piece up for a closing.
Second Theme 'recapped' in the home key:


Although Symphony No.40 does not, a sonata can optionally end in a coda, which is an extension of the piece, usually to elaborate on past themes and motives, occasionally introducing new thematic material, called terminal development, and cadences in the original key of the piece.
Symphony No. 40 is written in G Minor, which according to studies of key meanings, is associated with seriousness and magnificence, combined with spirited loveliness, which you may listen for in the beautiful harmonies and textures of this piece.

Lastly, as you listen, you may use these guidelines to follow the form:
Exposition:
m.1 - Exposition begins in g minor(i = tonic), primary theme is introudced in a repeated period binary design.
m.32 - begin transition to secondary theme
m.70 - Secondary theme begins in Bb Major, (relative-major key(III) to home key, g minor(i))
m. 101 - the exposition comes to a close, cadencing in Bb Major in m. 124.
Development:
m.125 - Development begins developing the primary theme, then movies through 18 different keys and key regions before landing on tonic.
m.206 - Recapitulation begins, introducing the Primary theme, transition, and secondary theme in the home key, creating stability through the end of the piece.


Further research can be done here:
Boerner, Steve. "Biography." The Mozart Project. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .
Boerner, Steve. "Symphonies, Symphony Movements." The Mozart Project. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .
"A little history of the Sonata." Music history and timeline at Classical Works. Web. 22 Jan. 2010. .

Organ Recital

Tonight, I went to Erica Kerr's Organ Recital in Pease. As I flipped through the program about halfway through, I realized that all of these compositions were from before 1750.

She opened with Prelude and Fugue in B minor and three Bach Chorale Preludes:
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich
Lobt Gott, ihr Christen

The Fugue was very light and dance like. Throughought this whole concert, I noticed heavy amounts of imitation. I am not a critical enough listener to trace key changes throughout the concert, but sometimes the program notes will help. The prelude of the Fugue is in b-minor, as the title suggests, but the fugue concludes in a huge B-Major chord.
B-Major is strongly colored, announcing wild passions, composed from the most glaring colors. Anger, rage, jealousy, fury, despair and every burden of the heart lies in its sphere. Because there are no words to this composition, I cannot completely verify that this is true, but I hear (and even the program notes depict) a "moody" scalar subject.

(Unfortunately, the program does not give the key of each of the prelude pieces.)

Antonio de Cabezon (1510-1566)
El Cavallero
This was extremely beautiful and light. It was not nearly as much of a big sound as the other pieces. There is a bunch of sustained notes, and the entire piece is registered very much in the higher range. The accompaniment is absolutely secondary to the beautiful melody. It's hardly there at all. There (surprisingly) is a ton of suspension-resolution in this piece. The program notes suggest that Cabezon was "ahead of his time" because of this composition. I might suggest that the reason for the registry being so soft and high is that it is a woman's voice singing to a messenger:
"Tell the gentleman
Not to complain,
That I give him my faith
That I love him.

Tell the gentleman
Of graceful body,
Not to complain
Secretly."

I suppose it is highly characteristic of the text to match the tone of the piece because of all of the tone painting in the Renaissance. I don't recall listening to any other Spanish Renaissance composers, so I don't have that much in my mental bank to draw on.


Francisco Correa de Arauxo (1584 - 1654)
XXXVI - Eieneo de Medio Rezistro
This composer is also Spanish. This piece was contrasting in sound to the Cabezon piece. This was much louder and more moving. I believe I'm seeing a correlation between loudness and complexity with how late the composer is. I'm also afraid that all organ sounds are starting to sound the same, and It's much more difficult to be critical with listening. There isn't much dynamic contrast, which I believe to be true to the period organ, which until recently I didn't even know existed in the Baroque, much less Renaissance.


Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Fantasia
Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr

I scrambled my notes, so I don't know which notes apply to which piece, but at times the piece was so exactly imitative, it was antiphonal. The only change was which stops were pulled, where the pitch, rhythm, and register were all the same. This was exciting to me. It was the first antiphonal piece I've heard on the organ. It makes sense because the piece is known as the "Echo Fantasia". He's dutch. Because of this program note, I learned that a "manual" is one of the layers of keys on the organ, usually consisting of 66 notes.

Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Danket dem Herrn

This is a theme and variations (very baroque).
Apparently J.S.Bach would travel behind Buxtehude around Arnstadt and Lubeck in 1705 just to hear Buxtehude play. He obviously was a big influence on Bach.


The next two pieces, Ten Pieces for an Organ Clock by C.P.E.Bach and Sonata in D Major by Felix Mendelssohn are from after 1750, but were very nice to listen to.

I can appreciate how she programmed her concert to move chronologically (with an exception of opening with Bach) by composer. It was nice to sit back and enjoy observing the development of organ music.





Holy cow my listening logs are getting too long...

From L'Orfeo Listening

This is one of the listenings that I wrote down instead of blogging because my computer was broken for quite some time.
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I see they have period instruments: Recorder, plucked instruments, perhaps a thorobough. I cannot tell if the violins and trumpets are from the period or modern. They have sackbuts for sure.

"Let us sing in sweet accounts so that our strains may be worthy of Orpheus" seems to be a refrain of that short scene in the beginning

There is a "charming nymphs" refrain between soliloques in the beginning.

Oh, Harpsichord!

I could be wrong, but when Sylvia comes in, she seems to be singing the same music with different words. This is right before she tells Orpheus that his love was bitten by a snake and is dead.

Baroque begins with Opera!!!
Le Nuove Musica!
... and lasts through Bach's death in 1750.






(Much like Elvis and King Arthur, I don't believe that Bach is actually dead, but is simply biding his time before he sees fit to reveal his majesty once again.)

b minor Mass - Take two.

Gloria - Cum Sancto Spiritu - D Major
This was very melismatic, fast, and light.
It sounded like it was starting like a concerto form, but then turned into a vocal fugue. "With the Holy Spirit"

Credo - Credo in unum Deum - A Major
The style is like Stile Antiquo (from Renaissance)
A little big of gregorian chant is infused.
I like how the instruments inmitate the vocal line. I think this is like what they do in Da Chiesa style.
(Dr. Pierce's "Add-in": Bach used contrapuctal and ostinato figures when text meant "keeping the faith." It was one of Bach's tools.

Credo - Et in unum Dominum - G Major
"And in One Lord (Jesus Christ)"
Da Capo Aria love text
Soprano and Alto Duet, first introduced by two oboes.
Neapolitan Opera (from Naples) - Oboe D'Amore
Bach never wrote an Opera, but his text and music are very dramatic at times, and this piece was an example of that

Credo - Crucifixus - e minor
"The Crucifix"
I hear the low pulsating basso ostinato. The heavy minor tone really reflects the suffering of Jesus. I hear soprano sustane on a high pitch, which I interpret as the wailing of Mary and Mary Magdaline.

---
"weeping wailing breathing"
There is a long desent of tone and pitch until it reaches its lowest point. Then, as in the angels in heaven, there is an explosion of sound from everybody: Brass, strings, woodwinds, chorus... at a happy fortissimo. Again, Bach is very dramatic with his tone painting. Great job, Bach.

Bach B minor Mass

A component of the baroque era that is new and exciting to me is the idea of different keys being chosen for their "affective characteristics" of their individual sound, and each key having an entirely different feel. Not only does the text match the music, as in tone painting, first taken to the extreme by some Ars Nova composers, but even the very key that it is placed in has a special meaning.
I researched "Affective Key Characteristics" and pulled up a chart from a music theory class website at Western Michigan University. http://www.wmich.edu/mus-theo/courses/keys.html


1 a) Kyrie Eleison is in b minor.
b minor is as it were the key of patience, of calm awaiting one's fate and of submission to divine dispensation.
This is obviously an appropriate key, as the soprano is pleading, "God have Mercy" on us, our souls.

b) Christe Eleison is in D Major.
D Major is "the key of triumph, of Hallejuahs, of war-cries, of victory-rejoicing. Thus, the inviting symphonies, the marches, holiday songs and heaven-rejoicing choruses are set in this key."
This is also an appropriate key. First, it's the relative Major of b minor, but also, "Chrise Eleison," Christ have mercy, is a happier thought, as he was sent to earth to sacrifice himself on our behalf, so he is the "good guy" in the equation, thus inviting a happier feeling, and thus a happier key.

c) Kyrie Eleison is in f# minor.
f# minor is "a gloomy key: it tugs at passion as a dog biting a dress. Resentment and discontent are its language."
Bach doesn't seem to make this piece feel gloomy, but rather has a beautiful and different flow to it. It is different from the first Kyrie Eleison because it's in the style of Palestrina.

Gloria
a) Gloria In Excelsis is in D Major
Obviously, "Gloria in the highest" is going to be in a much happier key of victory rejoicing. The singers are singing along with the orchestra.

Ah. I see they are not using period instruments, (except for the vocalists) because i see a piccolo trumpet. This is an excellent performance by the brass section. I also like the cinematography. When the trumpets have a feature, they camera sometimes goes to them, and when the sopranos have a hit, they show them on camera. Sometimes I wish the choir were more in tune, especially during big choruses, but overall this is an pleasant performance to listen to.

c) Laudamus Te is in A Major.
It is with a soprano solo that is heavily melismatic. "And on Earth, peace." Bach probably used this texture because it's as if an an angel is singing to us from the heavens. A Major is b minor's Major Dominant relation.
A Major "includes declarations of innocent love, satisfaction with one's state of affairs; hope of seeing one's beloved again when parting; youthful cheerfulness and trust in God."

d) Gratias agimus tibi is in D Major
This is a highly fanfare-sounding piece, indicative of D Major. "We give thee thanks."

e) Domine Deus is in G Major
G Major is a related key to D Major, which is a related to b minor. So, G Major is the Major Subdominant of b minor. This part starts with a flute solo (how unfortunate) and features a tenor-soprano duet. This and the other soprano solo are Da Capo Arias. Cool. This is very Baroque.

f) Qui tollis peccata mundi is back to b minor.
"Who takes away the sins of the world," again "submission to divine dispensation"

g) Qui sedes ad dextram Patris - b minor.
"Who sits at the right hand of the father," with alto solo and oboe interlude. The outline says oboe, but the video seems to show an English Horn instead. Oh. Dr. Reed said that it's the Oboe d'Amore... Oboe of love? I would be curious to learn more about this. Ok. I did research. It is larger and more serene than the oboe. Great!

g) Quoniam tu solus sanctus in D Major.
HECK YES! BASS-HORN DUET! "For you alone are Holy." I see that Bach recognizes that the horn alone is worthy of holiness. Ah. This is excellent. It's very challenging to play horn that high so quietly and lightly, I can respect that.

Well, the Bach mass in b minor was wonderful to listen to. I approve. As have millions of others, I'm sure.

First Outline - Bib

History -

“While our knowledge of the tone of the hand-horn is on fairly safe ground because of the number of extant examples to which we may refer, we are still very much in the dark when it comes to the horn for which Bach and Handel wrote” (Fitzpatrick 47).

“Horn-playing as we know it came from Austria and Bo- hemia, not, as is commonly supposed, from France. It is abundantly clear from contemporary orchestral lists that the first hornists of any importance were Bohemians; and from both court inventories and from surviving specimens it appears that the first makers of orchestral horns worked at Vienna and Prague. The horn had indeed attained to a considerable degree of development as an instrument in France by the late seven- teenth century, and it was in the form of the cor-de-chasse of this period that the horn came to England, where it was known as the French horn” (Fitzpatrick 48).

With the change of attitude in hunting in society in Bohemia, particularly Saxony, the horn became more of an instrument, and less of a status symbol. Around 1706, bohemia saw its first stages of professional horn playing with Johann Theodorus Zeddelmayer, becoming the first court hornist. (Fitzpatrick 50-51).

In the 1740’s, the horn becomes a widely accepted solo instrument (Fitzpatrick 51).

A great challenge comes in the performance practice of hand horn in that they were made in different keys, and thus having different qualities. Mouthpieces of the instruments must also be taken into effect, as they had not been developed yet. (Montagu 427).

color –

“have broad rims similar to the trumpet mouthpieces of the time, a feature which bears out the fact that honists did double on the trumpet. Contrary to the commonly-held view, however, the cup of each is deep, straight-sided and conical, and produces a distinctly horn-like tone, even when the instrument is held upright” (Fitzpatrick 54).

“…and what instrument could better call up a picture of God marching into the world than the horn in the Quoniam of the B minor Mass?” (Fitzpatrick 55).

“The mouthpiece underwent a noticeable change as a result of hand-stopping as well. Because it was now not necessary to press the mouthpiece against the lips in order to obtain the altissimo register's chromatic scale, the broad rim gave way to a narrow rim which greatly increased the sensitivity of the lips and enhanced the now-characteristic dark, gentle tone“ (Fitzpatrick 57).





Thesis -

“Above all, the revival of the early horns would refresh our memory as to what the horn in its purest form actually sounds like. It would give players on the modern horn a tonal model upon which to base their concept of sound; and perhaps such a rebirth of the true horn would erect a firm barrier against the mechanised degeneration which daily threatens to engulf the horn completely. For if we were to lose the horn as we have known it, with all its risks and inimitable perfections, our musical life would be very much the poorer” (Fitzpatrick 59).




Works Cited


Fitzpatrick, Horace. "The Valveless Horn in Modern Performances of Eighteenth- Century Music." Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association (1965): 45-60. JSTOR. Web. 24 Nov. 2009. .

Montagu, Jeremy. "Hand-Stopping Technique on the Horn." Early Music 5 (1977): 425- 27. JSTOR. Web. 24 Nov. 2009. .






Things that I want to use that I haven’t yet acquired, but intend to:

Walshe, Robert C. "Hand horn Technique as a Teaching Tool." 73.

Walshe, Robert C. "Hand Technique and the Hand Horn." 57-61.

Danner, Gregory. "Heinrich Domnich's Méthode de Premiere et Second Cor: Lessons in Musicianship for Today's Student." 47-49.

Janetzky, Kurt. "Metamorphoses of Possibilities." 78-88.

Machaut Station

Guillaume De Machaut The Mirror of Narcissus Rose, Liz, Rondeau For 4 Voices: Rose, Liz, Printemps, Verdure - Rondeau performed by: Gothic Voices

I believe we might have listened to this already in lecture or listening lab, as it sounds very familiar. I can hear some bold dissonances suspended for a couple of beats, which is neat. There is so much hocket in this piece it's just jumping out and biting me in the nose. The cadences of this time period seem so weak. I feel if it was not for the ritardando and silence afterward, it would be difficult even to identify the cadences. I can't say I prefer this piece to the Landini or the Dunstable.

Ah. Pandora is agian imperfect! This next piece on my Machaut station is labelled as Renaissance; I'm skipping that for a later date. Oh. and the next one is even by Dufay! What a goldmine! This is great evidence that Machaut is indeed one of the latest Medieval composers and Dufay is one of the first Renaissance composers.

Guillaume De Machaut: La Messe De Nostre Dame; Songs From Le Voir Dit performed by: Messe De Nostre Dame, Mass For 4 Voices: I. Kyrie:

This piece is quite smooth and soothing. The lyrics seem to be highly complicated. Just kidding. It's a Kyrie. It's difficult for me to pick out the chant line among four voices. I don't think I can do that yet. I don't really know what to say about this piece that's really unique except there seems to be a sort of refrain form. Agian, I'd love to go back and listen again to confirm that it is a rondo of sorts, but There is no rewind or back button, unfortunately. That is probably my biggest hesitation in these entries. I'm afraid to be wrong. These voices seem to move in a lot of oblique motion. The inner voices seem to have some parallelism to them. This must have been recorded in an acoustically wonderful venue, because when they cadence, the resonance goes on for days.