THINGS ARE

STARTING TO
DEVELOP – THE
SYMPHONY
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INSTRUMENT
R&D

 The individual vs.

collective
 The violin and the
fortepiano
 Amanti, Stradivari,
Guernari
 Critstofori
  Double Exposition
THE SOLO  Solo theme
CONCERTO  Cadenza
MOZART, PIANO CONCERTO NO 23 IN A MAJOR K 488
; FIRST MOVEMENT: DOUBLE EXPOSITION FORM
Time Action

:48 Theme I

1:23 Transition

1:48 Theme II

2:21 Closing

3:06 Piano Exposition Theme I

3:35 Transition

4:06 Theme II

4:37 Closing This closing is quite long and could even be called a closing plus a coda

5:20 Development Listen for how the music moves through a variety of keys and characters

7:20 Recapitulation Theme I Now theme is played by both piano and orchestra together

7:48 Transition

8:17 Theme II

8:47 Closing This closing confuses us and leads to the cadenza; there is even a false cadenza at 9:20

10:33 Cadenza The orchestra stops on the predominate chord: the piano improvises on motifs from the themes

11:44 End of Cadenza The piano arrives to the dominate chord and plays a trill (11:31 &11:43) to signal the end of the
cadenza
12:04 Coda
THE REST

 12:44 - Adagio
 Ternary form
 Slower, lyrical, contrasting

 19:39 – Allegro assai

 Rondo
 Faster, vibrant, lively
FUTURE INFLUENCE
Piano Concerto Op. 38 by Samuel Barber, 1962
 Mvt. I – Sonata form
Time Action

:07 Introduction

:59 Theme I

2:04 Transition Material from the intro is used

3:02 Theme II

4:42 Development Material from the intro is used

8:00 Cadenza

8:58 Recapitulation
Theme I
9:55 Transition

10:18 Theme II

12:18 closing

12:29 Coda

 Mvt. II – Theme and variations

 Mvt. III – Rondo

SYMPHONY

 Symphony comes from the Greek word symphonies, meaning “sounding together, in agreement or in
concordance with.”
 A multi-movement work designed to explore a rang e of moods

 It was during the late 1500s and very early 1600s—during the last years of the Renaissance and the
first years of the Baroque era—that the Italian word sinfonia began being used to identify
instrumental introductions, episodes, and interludes in otherwise vocal compositions.
 By the Classical era, the Baroque Italian-style overture had evolved into the Classical era sinfonia, or
symphony. In doing so, it became the single most important genre of orchestral music of its time.
 A symphony is a musical composition for orchestra; it is not a performing ensemble.

 many early classical era symphonies are three movements in length, but the standard from becomes
the four-movement template
SYMPHONY NO. 40 IN G MINOR BY W.A. MOZART

 I. Molto allegro - Sonata

 II. Andante – Binary form

 III. Menuetto-Trio

 IV. Finale. Allegro – Modified Sonata

MOZART, SYMPHONY IN G MINOR K. 550 (1788), FOURTH MOVEM
ENT: THEMES
 Sonata form
 Theme one is cast in G minor, and in terms of its melodic contour is highly variable
 Theme two is sweet and smooth, contrasting.
 This exposition concludes with cadence material, an extended bit of closing music.
 Exposition does not repeat
 The development section: “action sequence in which the themes are fragmented, recombined, transformed, re-dressed,
undressed, cross-dressed, and generally treated according to the dramatic whim of the composer.”
 Two thoughts on development
 based on musical materials drawn from the exposition
 characterized by thematic fragmentation and harmonic instability, meaning modulation.

 Recapitulation and tonal reconciliation between the themes. (3:13)

 A sonata form coda can be quite substantial, as befits a musical form of such length and dramatic breadth, this one is quite
brief. (4:44)
FOUR MOVEMENT STRUCTURE

 ”The first movement—intellectually and emotionally challenging—addresses the mind: the intellect
and the soul.” The first movement of a Classical era symphony will often be the most complex, both
in terms of its structure and range of emotional expression. Almost invariably, this first movement
will be in sonata form.
 The second movement of the Classical era symphonic template is a lyric respite from the rigors of
the first. It addresses the heart, and will generally not be characterized by the degree of contrast
we were witness to in the first movement, often theme and variations
 The third movement of a four-movement Classical era symphony is almost invariably cast as a
minuet and trio: a stylized dance, but later this is developed into a “joke” minuet and trio that
becomes known as a scherzo
 The fourth movement is typically fast and playful, more often than not in rondo form, though
sometimes sonata is preferred. It often intends to leave us with a smile on our faces.
  Movement I – A standard sonata with an extended Coda
and a recapitulation that does not modulate Theme to the
tonic key
SYMPHONY NO. 5  Movement II - This is a double variation form, meaning
IN C MINOR, OP. both a main theme and counter theme are used in
67
 Movement I – Allegro con
variation. Listen to how Beethoven treats variation
differently than Mozart. The variations are not taken
brio (Sonata)
separately but rather as part of a cumulative whole.
 Movement II – Andante co
 Movement III - The Scherzo gradually replaced the Minuet
n moto (Double Theme an
d variations) and Trio as the 3rd movement. It has similar structure, but
a livelier feel. Its focus is on rhythm, and the meter is still
 Movement III – Scherzo: Al
in a very fast feeling of three
legro
 Movement IV – An abbreviated sonata that is, oddly, not in
 Movement IV – Allegro
the tonic key. It also contains a quotation from Movement
(slightly modified sonata)
III.

“Freude folgt Trauer,

Sonnenschein - Regen.“
BROADER THEMATIC DEVELOPMENT

 Towards the end of the classical era, the emphasis

begins to shift from the established of quality themes
in a structured form to focus on the development of
those themes and in a quasi-narrative fashion
 Beethoven and his contemporaries spent much more
of their movements focus on the development
sections rather than the on the exposition.
 Themes are increasingly motif driven

 A more holistic view seems to govern the entire work

BACK TO SYMPHONY
NO. 5
 Beethoven’s them is not a tune, a
melody; it is a succession of motives
played different groups of
instruments.
 The Theme is not balanced, rather
spun out and moody in character
 The rhythm is as much the motif as
the notes
 It doesn’t sound like Classical era
music; only sounds like Beethoven’s
Fifth; a self-referential piece of art
It defies expectations
 December 22 1808, in Vienna’s
Theater an der Wien.
EXPOSITION
DEVELOPMENT
 Time Action

:08 Theme 1 (opening with a very simple but dramatic 4 note

motif)

:36 Transition or bridge

:53 Theme 2 (contrasting, begins in major key, the mediant)

1:23 closing

1:32 Repeat of exposition

2:58 Development (begins with opening theme but in the sub

dominant)

3:35 Themes 1 and 2 are pitted against each other

4:13 The recapitulation begins with a very dramatic return of

SYMPHONY NO.
the motif

4:37 Modified extension with the oboe have a short cadenza

5 IN C MINOR, O 4:55 Transition

P. 67 5:13

5:47
Theme II now in the major version of the tonic

closing

5:54 Extended Coda (a very unusual coda that acts almost as a

second development)

7:00 A false restart

ISN’T IT
ROMANTIC
HUMA1102
BROADER THEMATIC DEVELOPMENT

 Towards the end of the classical era, the emphasis

begins to shift from the established of quality themes
in a structured form to focus on the development of
those themes and in a quasi-narrative fashion
 Beethoven and his contemporaries spend much more
of their movements focus on the development
sections rather than the on the exposition.
 Themes are increasingly motif driven

 A more holistic view seems to govern the entire work

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

 Right man, Right Place, Right Time

 Talented from an early age; abusive father, a failed musician, tries to make him into another Mozart;
creates a resentment for authority
 At sixteen, sent to Vienna to be judged as a pianist and to study with Mozart; cut short: Beethoven’s
mother was dying.
 1792, the twenty-two-year-old Beethoven traveled to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn. It does not go
well.
 1802, Heilegenstadt Testament

 1802 to 1815, his heroic period

 1816 to his death in 1827, “late” period, when he was clinically deaf, physically isolated, emotionally
alienated, and not in the best of health
THE TIMES
 1789 – insurgents storm city jail, the Bastille,
looking for Weapons. The mob freed seven
prisoners, killed the guards, killed the warden,
killed the mayor of Paris, and then paraded
around Paris with the heads of the murdered
guards on pikes.
 1793 – Louis XVI sentenced to death
 The French Revolution occurred in what was
the most advanced country of the time.
 At the same time, a young Corsican artillery
Lieutenant named Napoleon Bonaparte began
his rise through the ranks of the French army.
The rise of Napoleon represented the rise of
the individual.
 “My art is for me, not for you. What I feel, see,
and hear is important, and I/my art will
express what I feel, what I see, what I hear.
Take it or leave it.”
INNOVATIONS

 Contextual use of form: The mature Beethoven will use the Classical era forms only to the point
where they serve his expressive needs.
 Pervasive motivic development.

 Ongoing dramatic narrative.

 The use of rhythm as a narrative element unto itself.

 The ongoing pursuit of originality: Later in his life, Beethoven famously said, “Art demands of us
that we never stand still. “