AoS1 - Western Classical Music

1600-1750

Major and minor

By modulating between keys

• Binary Form
• Ternary Form
• Rondo Form
• Variation Form

• Terraced dynamics
• Motifs (a lot of repetition)
• Simple harmonies (mainly use chords 1 and 5)
• Lots of added ornaments
• Polyphonic texture (mostly)

• A continuous bass part
• The chords are based on it
• Often played on an organ or harpsichord
• Could also be played on more than one instrument (cello, bassoon etc)

• Organ
• Harpsichord
• Bassoon
• Flute
• Double bass
• Violin
• Viola
• Oboe
• Recorder
• Cello

1750-1820

• Classical contains fewer ornaments
• Classical has balanced 4 bar phrases (2 bar question, 2 bar answer)
• Classical had binary, rondo, ternary and variation forms but also made up sonata form
• Baroque used terraced dynamics - Classical used crescendos and diminuendos

• About 1700
• Clarinet also invented around this time

Because you could perform dynamics on it

• They got bigger
• Woodwind, trumpets and horns were used more
• The strings section was expanded

• There are two bits of a tune
• Usually used for Baroque dances
• AABB
• A and B should be contrasting
• Often a modulation between A and B
• Minor to major, Major to dominant

• Bourrée
• Menuet
• Gavotte
• Sarabande
• Gigue

• There are three sections
• AABBAA
• Section A ends in the home key, usually with a perfect cadence
• Section B modulates to a related key then goes back to home key before it ends
• Final section, the same or slightly varied from the first
• If it is varied, would be called A1 instead of A

• A solo in an opera or oratorio
• Often used in ternary from (Baroque period)
• ^This type of aria is called a 'da capo aria'

You would do A followed by B, where you would come to a 'da capo al fine' when you would go back and play A until you reach 'fine'

• In symphonies
• The third movement is often in a ternary form called 'minuet and trio'
• The trio is in a different (related) key to create contrast
• They're sandwiched together to give the whole movement a ternary structure

• It can have any number of sections
• ABACADAEAFA..........
• The main theme is always in the home key
• Each episode tends to modulate to a related key for contrast

• The theme is a memorable tune
• Theme, short pause, first variation, short pause, second variation etc...
• No limit to number of variations
• Each variation should be a recognisable version of the main theme, but different to all the others

• Add notes
• Remove notes
• Change the metre
• Add a countermelody
• Change the tempo
• Change the key
• Change some or all of the chords
• Add a different type of acompaniment

• Varies ideas over a fixed bass part
• Continuous, no pauses
• Main theme (ground) continuously played
• Varying melodies and harmonies which become more complex are played over the ground
• Two types of Baroque dance which are in ground bass form (chaconne and passacaglia) which are slow and stately

• Turning the tune upside down
• Keep the same intervals but go in the opposite direction

• Playing the tune backwards
• Start with the last note and go backwards until you reach the beginning

• Where you repeat the pattern or the phrase but start on a different note
• Handel used a descending sequence in bars 18-19 of Glory of the Lord

• Where you repeat a phrase but with slight changes
• Bars 63-68 between the alto and tenor parts in Glory of the Lord
• Bars 72-76 in Symphony No. 40 in G minor

• Where you keep one pattern the same and change the rest
• Basically a repetition
• Doesn't have to just be in the bass line, it can be in the melody or chord pattern
• It can last for more than one bar

• Baroque begins on the note above the written note and goes quickly back and forth between these two notes
• Classical begins on the written note and goes up to the note above

• A note which clashes with the accompanying chord
• It is half the value of the following note
• Note before it is usually quite a jump away
• The note after is just above or below and called the resolution
• Resolution has to be from the accompanying chord
• Also called grace notes
• Another type of grace note is called the acciaccatura, played very quickly

• Starts off like a trill
• They end on the written note, which is played a bit longer than the trilled notes

• Starts on the note above the written note then goes back to the written note, goes to the note below and back to the written note
• An inverted turn starts on the note below the written note, written note, note above written note and back to written note

• Sung by choirs and soloists
• Can be sacred or secular

• Mass - part of the catholic church service set to music
• Requiem - mass for the dead
• Chorale - a hymn
• Oratorio - religious version of an opera, often telling bible stories
• Cantata - vocal pieces made up of two or three arias, separated by recitatives

• Opera - a story set to music with singing and acting. Most operas were divided up into three parts or acts. The main types of Baroque opera were....
• - Opera Seria - serious, often mythical themes
• - Opera buffa - lighter, more everyday themes
• - Opera comique - like opera buffa but with some spoken recitatives
• - Operetta - not big enough to be a proper opera
• Canata - you can get secular cantatas as well

• Aria
• Recitative
• Chorus

• A solo vocal piece
• Gives main characters the chance to show what they're thinking and feeling

• A song which tells the story and moves it along
• The rhythm of the words tend to imitate the rhythm of normal speech

• Sung by the chorus (a choir)
• Usually written for SATB choirs (soprano, alto, tenor, bass)
• Most Baroque choirs are all male

• Religious versions of operas
• Often tell bible stories with a religious or moral theme
• Not usually acted out with scenery and costumes
• Normally have instrumental accompaniment
• Can be performed in concert halls as well as churches

• George Frideric Handel
• Born in Germany, 1685
• From about 1710, lived in England
• Died in London in 1759

• Messiah
• Handel wrote Messiah in 1741
• Took about three weeks to compose
• Became popular with audiences because of uplifting choruses
• Mozart like it so much he arranged his own version of it
• Originally was performed at Easter but now performed at Christmas
• The text (libretto) was put together by Charles Jennens who took words from old and new testaments

• Three
• First section describes the prophecies about Jesus' birth
• Second section about presecution and crucifixion of Jesus
• Third section about his ressurection

• Fourth piece in the first section
• Comes after an aria sung by a tenor and before a bass recitative
• First chorus you hear in the oratorio
• Made up of the lines- 'and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed' 'and all flesh shall see it together' 'for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it'
• ^These phrases are repeated throughout the piece
• For most of the chorus, orchestra doubles vocal parts
• Instruments often play in unison with the singers

• Major
• Most in A major
• Modulates a few times (twice to E major and once to B major)
• Mostly homophonic
• Some bits are polyphonic (in bars 91-107)
• Piece marked allegro, quick and lively
• In 3/4, but in some places feels like 2/4 (called hemiola)

• Sung by altos 
• Bars 11-14
• Most of phrase is syllabic (each syllable has its own note)

• Intoduced by the tenors 
• Bars 17-20
• 'Be revealed' spread over a descending sequence
• Syllables of 'revealed' spread over lots of notes (melismatic, opposite of syllabic)

• First sung by altos
• Bars 43-46
• Same bit of melody repeated three times

• Introduced by tenors and basses
• Bars 51-57
• Only motif that's introduced by two parts
• Sing in unison for first 5 bars
• Sing in harmony for last two bars
• Most of motif on same note (A)
• ^This is a pedal point
• Notes are quite long (minims and dotted minims)
• Sounds serious and important

• Plagal
• Last four bars marked adagio. Much slower

• Wealthy audiences
• Royalty and aristocrats
• Composers paid to write music for official events, church services and entertainment

• At the beginning, fairly small (mainly strings, with horns, flutes and oboes)
• Later on woodwind section grew. Clarinets invented
• Mozart was the first to use clarinet in a symphony
• Bassoons also introduced
• Trumpets added to brass section
• Timpani included in percussion section
• At beginning there was a harpsichord but was replaced by the increasing woodwind section

• Mostly stringed - dominant sound in most Classical music. Violins play most of the tunes
• Wind play extra notes to fill out the harmonies
• Occasional wind solo
• Later in Classical music wind started to have a more independent role

• Short balanced two or four bar phrases
• Question followed by answer

• Most Classical music has just one tune with accompanying chords. Homophonic texture
• There are block chords and broken chords
• Polyphony - where several tunes weave in and out of each other - sometimes used but not often

• Major and minor
• Classical harmony known as diatonic (nearly all the notes belong in the home key)

• Metre - very regular
• Tempo - stays constant, speed of the beat stays pretty much the same all the way through

• Concertos, symphonies and sonatas popular Classical forms
• Concerto is a piece for a soloist and orchestra
• Soloist has more of the tune and can really show off
• Orchestra gets the tune too, not just the accompaniment
• Three movements- quick, slow, quick
• Often have a bit (candenza) orchestra stops and soloist mechanically improvises
• Piano and violin concertos were most popular, but clarinet, horn and trumpet ones were written too

• A massive piece
• Can last more than an hour
• Use full orchestra
• Usually have four movements
• Contrast between movements is important
• A least one movement is in sonata form
• ^Usually first and sometimes last

• Written for one instrument, but some for two instruments
• Usually has three or four movements with breaks in between them
• Similar structure to a symphony

• An overture is a one-movement piece for orchestra
• Written as introductions to larger works
• A suite is an orchestral arrangement of the music used to accompany the action on stage, put together as a separate piece of music and played at concerts

• Exposition
• Development
• Recapitulation

• Has two contrasting themes
• Ends in a different but related key to the one it started in

• Keeps the piece interesting
• Themes are taken through lots of variations

• Pulls it all together again
• Themes from the exposition are repeated
• ^Usually changed a bit
• Composer might add ornaments or shorten them a bit

• Tell you what's coming next
• Most obvious is a change of key
• Key on dropping advance hints
• Bridge passes - lead smoothly into the new theme and also help prepare the new key
• Cadences - mark the end of a phrase or section. Come at the end of a piece too. Chords in the cadence often repeated over and over again to let the audience know the piece is over

• First movement - sonata form - brisk and purposeful
• Second movement - ternary or variation form - slower and songlike
• Third movement - minuet or scherzo - fairly fast and dance-like
• Fourth movement - rondo, variation or sonata form - fast and cheerful
• Third movement left out in sonatas in three movements

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Born in Slazburg, Austria in 1756
• Died in Vienna in 1791
• Considered one of the greatest composers that ever lived

• Wrote over 40
• Wrote most of them before he was 25
• Symphony No. 40 was written in 1788
• One of only two which were written in a minor key
• He wrote No. 40 and two others in 6 weeks

• Fairly small orchestra
• No percussion at all, and the only brass instruments are the French Horns
• Original version didn't have clarinets 
• Set work was a later version which included clarinets

• Four
• First movement - Molto Allegro (very fast) - sonata form
• Second movement - Andante (walking pace) - sonata form
• Third movement - Allegretto (in between andante and allegro) - minuet and trio form
• Fourth movement - Allegro assai (very, very fast) - sonata form

• Bars 1-100
• First subject - bars 1-28 - first idea bars 1-9 and second idea 9-14. Both ideas played by violins. First three notes repeated throughout. Second idea starts with these notes but a 6th higher
• Transition or Bridge Passage - bars 28-43 - forte throughout with lots of sforzanado from bar 34. Begins in Bb major but extra chromatic notes to add tension. Violins play a descending sequence from bars 30-33 over a lower string tremelo with sustained notes for the upper woodwind
• Second subject - bars 44-72 - In Bb major though uses a lot of chromatic notes. Strings play the theme first then woodwind repeat it at bar 52. Ornaments used - woodwind plays trills in bar 65
• Codetta - bars 72-100 - like a mini coda, used to finish the exposition section, lots of imitation between clarinet and bassoon, key changes from Bb major to G minor, whole of exposition is repeated

• Bars 101-164
• Based on first idea of exposition section
• Harmonies more chromatic in this bit
• Begins in F# minor but explores lots of different keys (eg bars 118-128)
• From bar 140 Mozart uses lots of pedal points

• Bars 164-299
• First subject - bars 164-184 - exactly the same as exposition
• Bridge passage is much longer this time - lasts from bar 184-227
• Passes through lots of keys including Eb major, F minor and D major
• Polyphonic
• Sequence in bars 202-210
• Second subject - bars 227-260 - shared between woodwind and strings, G minor, some ascending chromatic notes in the bass parts from bar 245
• The coda - bars 260-299 - extended version of the codetta, finishes with four G minor chords, really obvious that the movement has finished

1820-1900 (about)

• Tchaikovsky
• Brahms
• Chopin
• Some of Beethoven's later pieces

• Feelings and nature
• Wanted to show contrasts (e.g. love, hate, happiness, grief, life, death)
• Fascinated by supernatural ideas

• Poems and paintings
• They also used their music to create stories

Wide range