Keyboard Music at Midcentury

KEYBOARD MUSIC AT MIDCENTURY

Week 2

• C.P.E. Bach, Fantasia in C minor (1753)

• J.C. Bach, Sonata in D, Op. 5, No. 2, mvt. 1 (1768)

• Mozart, Symphony 25, mvt. 1 (1773)

Empfindsamkeit, or the Empfindsamer stil(Sensitivity; the “sensitive” style)

• movement in northern German instrumental music during the mid-18th c., characterized by (1) an emphasis upon the expression of a variety of deeply felt emotions within a piece and (2) typical of an age that was given to the expression of moving sentiments both in art and in everyday life. [Encyclopedia Britannica]

Empfindsamkeit, or the Empfindsamer stil(Sensitivity; the “sensitive” style)

• Specific to music and part of a broader artistic/literary context [sentimentalism in England]

• New aesthetic aimed at the expression of one’s own feelings through music [introspection]

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-88)

“Bach is the father, we are the kids” [Bach ist der Vater, wir sind die Buben] [Mozart]

CPE Bach in service to Frederick the Great of Prussia (1740-1789), in Berlin

Frederick the Great of Prussia

A Flute Concert of Frederick the Great at Sans Souci. Oil painting (1852) by Adolf Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel

C.P.E. Bach, An Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments (Berlin, 1753)

• “Play from the soul, not like a trained bird! (…) Since a musician cannot move others unless he himself is moved, he must of necessity feel all of the affects that he hopes to arouse in his listeners; he communicates his own feelings to them and thus most efficiently moves them to sympathy. In languid and sad passages, he becomes languid and sad. The same will also be true of vigorous, merry, and other sorts of musical themes, as he enters into those affections. Hardly has he stilled one than he awakens another; therefore, he is constantly changing affections.” – C.P.E. Bach, quoted in Weiss and Taruskin, no. 77, 272.

C.P.E. Bach, Fantasia in C minor (1753)

• His “lesson piece” to illustrate points from his essay

• Improvisation as hallmark of 18th c. musician

C.P.E. Bach about the Clavichord

The newer fortepianos, when well-made and of stout construction, have many advantages (…) They do well in solos and in music that is not too heavily scored. I, however, believe a good clavichord, except that is has a weaker sound, can match all their beauties; it has, moreover, the advantage of the vibrato and the sustaining of tones, for I can always press a note down again after playing it.” [C.P.E. Bach quoted in Weiss and Taruskin, 269-270].

Johann Chrisitan Bach (1732-82)the “London” Bach

• Composer of operas and chamber music• The youngest of J.S. Bach’s 20 children• Studied with his half-brother C.P.E. Bach in Berlin• Career as an opera composer in Milan and Naples• Settles in London in 1762

– Composes for the King’s Theater in London – Appointed music master for Queen Charlotte (wife of

George III)

The galant style Sonata

J. C. Bach, Sonata in D, op. 5 no. 2 (1768)

• Galant periodicity: contrast and balance– balanced phrases [from Baroque dances!]– Rule of contrasts [from comic opera!]• Dramatic organization of binary structure: – contrast of affect/character–polarity between the themes (A vs B)

A B :| |: motivic play A + B :|I modulates V in V or relative key Return to I

The galant style Sonata

2 complimentary sides of “domestic” music

Empfindsamkeit Galanterie

C.P.E. Bach’s empfindsamer stilEx. Fantasia in C minor (1753)

J.C. Bach’s galant styleEx. Sonata in D, op. 5 no. 2 (1768)

Solitary and introspective music, which explores personal, private,

even unexpressed feelings

Performed for an audience of one (or even the player alone,

seated at the clavichord)

Sociable, outgoing, party music, implies company and

conversation

Performed at the salons

Musical Form

Ternary Form

• Literally: “3-part” form• Really 2 parts, with 1 repeating: ABA• Usually, A and B are contrasting, to create

“arch” shape• Second A can be varied or shortened: ABA‘

Binary Form

• Literally: “2-part” form: AB where A opens & B closes

• Usually, A & B are similar, rather than contrasting (same motives)

• Often, each part repeats: AA BB, or, using “repeat signs” (||: :||):

||:A:|| ||:B:||

Binary Form, Continued

• Often, binary form is “rounded” by return (or partial return) of A:A A BA BAor, using “repeat signs” ||:A:|| ||:BA:||,or, if partial return ||:A:|| ||:BA':||

• Uses: as basis for variation, or as Minuet, or as Trio

Minuet-Trio Form

• Minuet-Trio takes 2 (contrasting) binary-form dances and arranges them in a ternary pattern:Minuet – Trio – Minuet, or, Minuet Trio Minuet

||:A:|| ||:BA':|| ||:C:|| ||:DC':|| ||:A:|| ||:BA':||

Classical Era Forms

• rondo• theme and variations • minuet & trio• sonata form

Terms

• Sonata (genre): multi-movement work for solo piano or piano with other instrument

• Sonata (form): internal form of the first (and fourth) movement in a multi-movement instrumental genre such as piano sonata, piano trio, quartet, or a symphony

Historical Development of Sonata-Allegro

Ex. J. S. Bach, Bourrée II, BWV1010 (Cello Suite in E-flat) [ca. 1720]

4 : || : 8 : ||

I V I departure displacement return

Overview of Historical Development of Sonata-Form Part I: Baroque dances

Baroque dances (such as Bourrée and Minuet)• Binary form: A :|| : BA : ||• Regular and predictable periodic phrase structure

(multiples of 4- or 8-bars) – [roots in dance choreography]

Part II: Towards a new dramatic structure

• J. C. Bach, Sonata in D, op. 5 no. 2 (1768) (score handout)

Part II: Towards a new dramatic structure

– Balanced phrases, frequent cadences [from Baroque dances!]

– Rule of contrasts [from comic opera!]– Dramatic organization of binary structure:

–polarity between the themes (A vs B)

A B :| |: motivic play A + B :|I modulates V in V or relative key Return to I

Part III (post 1770s): Sonata-Allegro Form and Instrumental “Drama”

• combination of binary and ternary forms – but more complicated and dynamic than Minuet-Trio!

• Expanded Binary Form, using Ternary-Form’s principle of return– Notice: ABA (ternary) resembles ||:A:|| ||:BA':|| (binary)

• In Sonata Form: – contrast usually enters within the first section (Exposition) of a large

binary form– Second section divides into 2 large-scale parts: Development

(enhances contrast, more unstable) and Recapitulation (return and varied repeat of exposition)

Sonata Form Breakdown & Terms

• EXPOSITION

• DEVELOPMENT

• RECAPITULATION or REPRISE

melody 1st GroupStrong character

2nd GroupContrasting

Closing themeCadential

Harmony Tonic modulates to Dominant------------------------------------------(or relative Major in minor-mode pieces

melody Motivic Play Retransition---------Harmony Modulations-------- Dominant ------------

melody THEME 1 THEME 2 Closing theme

Harmony Tonic -------------does NOT modulate---------------------------TONIC

• Beethoven, Sonata Op. 2 No. 1 (1795)

EXPOSITION• short first group (like Haydn, often)• “rocket” theme (somewhat old-fashioned, Mozart)• Second group in ambiguous relative major• Rounding of exposition and larger form (like Mozart)

Development: fragmentation, more modulation, motivic workshaped (in this case) by sequence:• Rising sequence increases tension• Falling sequence releases tension• Stabilized in retransition (rumbling pedal)• Slight delaying tactic before:

Recapitulation: • Basically the same, except: • Starts loud (recapitulation as achievement)• Shifts for bridge, to stay in tonic• Second group stays in minor mode (a subtle dramatic effect)• Closing group extended in brief coda

Part III: Instrumental “drama” (post 1770s)

• Expanded binary form– 1st phrase: exposition– 2nd phrase: development and recapitulation

• The establishment of a large-scale harmonic tension by dramatizing the move away from the tonic and back

• Thematic dialectic (contrasting themes!)• Breakdown of symmetrical organization

Historical Development of Sonata-Allegro [Summary]

• Pre-1770s: – Baroque dances (such as Bourrée and Minuet):

• Regular and predictable phrase structure• Binary form: A :|| : BA : ||

– The galant style Sonata (builds upon Baroque dance idioms)• Balanced, symmetrical phrases (4- or 8-bar phrases)• Frequent cadences; clear harmonic polarity (I-V)• Contrasts and balance

• Post-1770s: – Sonata-Allegro Form:

• expanded binary form; large-scale harmonic tension; thematic duality

Frederick the Great of Prussia (1740-1789)Maria Theresa Empress of Austria (1740-1765), son Joseph II – Holy Roman Empire Emperor, 1745Louis XVI King of France (1774-1792)Prussian Catherine the Great as empress of Russia (1762-1796)