I. Haydn Haydn has a special preference for writing music in a bundle of six. Each of the six pieces has its individuality while sharing many common features at the same time. Haydn’s solo keyboard sonatas show striking diversity in type and style. They often could be categorized by their style periods and each of them reflects a corresponding social background. Sonatas composed from 1773 to 1784 were intended as “public” works from the very beginning, with a clear conception of the taste, preferences, and instruments available to the musical public of Vienna. The Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI: 23; L38 written in 1773 for solo harpsichord is the best known and most virtuosic of his set of six sonatas (Hob. XVI: 21-6). Haydn wrote the six sonatas for Prince Nicklaus Esterházy and they strictly follow the court-style. Sonata in F has three movements: Allegro moderato, Adagio (Larghetto) and Presto. The contrasting tempo and the fast motion between the fingers allow the player to give a virtuoso impression without acquiring over-demanding technique. In the opening movement, demanding 32nd-note passages create an improvisatory flavor. Haydn intentionally inserted a sequence of diminished 7th chords to make an unusual tonal appearance. The unique middle movement in F minor portrays a Baroque flavor. The finale is well-organized and filled with contrapuntal passages. Nearly a decade later, Haydn wrote another six three-movement sonatas named the Auenbrugger sonatas. The composer himself had become acquainted with some talented Viennese amateur musicians. The Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI: 29; L 52 was written in 1780 and with the rest of the set was dedicated to the Auenbrugger sisters. Although the sonata piece is in Haydn’s usual three movement style, he has secretly added in a number of new ingredients in each movement. The sonata begins with the Allegro con brio with lighthearted rondo variations. The most interesting aspect of this movements is that Haydn intentionally returned to the theme of the Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Hob. XVI: 36. However, the new movement includes two independent episodes, one in the tonic and the other in its relative minor. The Adagio movement is rich in ornamentation. A written-out cadenza is designed to for the trio. The finale Prestissimo returns to sonata form in a rocking ... ... middle of paper ... ...to one masterpiece. When listening to the piece, the music struck me as similar to story-telling. The Adagio opened the Fantasy with a dark, overcastting atmosphere. His use of key (C minor in this case) sets the mood unmistakably. The main theme is altered between both hands with variations. The progressive melodic embellishment serves as a useful model for the performer and they are compositional models for successive stages in the variation of a theme. The piece then moves on to a “march” like Allegro. This section includes a brief middle section in F Major which introduces the following Andantino. If the audience finds the peacefulness in the “Andantino movement” to be inconvincible, the finale unquestionably brings an even bigger surprise. It’s like a storm has just arrived after a quiet afternoon. The main theme reappears in the end in an even darker manner. From the drama, expressive language to the grand gesture, this particular Fantasy reminds me of Beethoven in various ways. As a major art form in the era, Mozart’s piano sonatas presented “models of fluency”. They revealed both the composer’s and the player’s musical virtuosity and clarity.
Sadie, Stanley. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Essays on his Life and his Music. United States: Oxford University Press. 1996, Print.
A sinfonia (Italian for symphony) broadly refers to a number of instrumental works from the Baroque period, including symphonies, sonatas, canzonas, concerti, and Italian opera overtures. Even J.S. Bach titles his “three-part” inventions for harpsichord “Sinfonia”. Torelli’s Sinfonia in D (G.8) is a four-movement “concerto” for trumpet, strings and harpsichord continuo. Unlike a concerto grosso, where a main theme is presented and then reappears in fragments, the main themes of Sinfonia in D are developed rather freely. The second movement (Adagio) is a very short, slow, interlude without trumpet that introduces the third movement (Allegro). Hence, the program shows these two movements as “adagio-allegro” joined together.
The roots of this form can be traced to the simple binary form of the baroque era. With binary, the two sections are thematically similar with a sameness of texture and theme throughout the movement. The term sonata originally referred to instrumental music, not a particular form of composition. The Baroque sonata can be traced back to an instrumental song of the late Renaissance called canzon da sonar. This leads eventually to the trio sonata, for four instruments despite its name, which consisted of two melody instruments, a chord playing instrument, and a basso continuo. Along with the trio sonata, there was the solo sonata that was written primarily for a melody instrument and a basso continuo. In the late 1600s, the word sonata was associated with sonate da chiesa, for church, and sonate da camera, for chamber.
For the purposes of this assignment I choose this particular concert because I find Mozart’s music to be intellectual and engaging, requiring deep concentration and an open mind to be able the comprehend the depth of his musical visions. In this paper a will attempt to explore the qualities I like and dislike in the pieces presented in this concert and endeavor to analyze the “Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, K 478”.
...ers and the audience. The dramatic nature of this piece alone is something to be reckoned with as it is extremely passionate. The symphony is presented in 4 movements as is common and begins with a Poco Sostenuto- Vivace, followed by a Allegretto movement, Presto movement, and finally ends on an Allegro con brio movement. the central theme of this piece is introduced in the first movement by a flute playing in tripple meter continuously ascending up the scales rising in dynamic contrast, continuing to grow into a louder and more stark contrast between it’s highs and lows. Consistently dance like, the piece is celebratory of its roots buried in historical Austrian music that has been present in the culture for years. The accomplishments of the soldiers for which the piece was composed for are easily told of simply by the energy and power present throughout the piece.
Music of the 1700s is often characterized as highly structured and balanced. A favorite form for pieces of many kinds was the sonata form, which relies heavily on the basic movement between different tonalities (especially tonic and dominant or relative major). Ludwig van Beethoven wrote over 30 sonatas for piano alone and used the structure for symphonies and many other instrumental works. Most other composers of the classical time period also used sonata form, and music historians have spent much time discussing why this might be so. Some historians pose this question strictly within a musical world: How did earlier musical structures give rise to sonata form? Others ask what it was in the surrounding historical context that made sonata form appealing.
From the concrete structure of the Baroque period to the free-form structure of the Modern period each composer brings forth a new understanding and value to their time period. Within these pieces that they creatively compose it brings new light and displays the culture of the time period. The composers each have story to tell and has each creatively constructed their own works within the diameters of their era.
...n 1705, his first composed pieces where published. These pieces were his Opus 1 which was twelve Sonatas for two violins and basso continuo in conventional style. His second collection, Opus 2 was published it was the same as the format of the first. Twelve sonatas meant for the two violins and basso continuo in conventional style. Opus 3 was the breakthrough that he was looking for. It was twelve concerti for one, two and four violins. This piece was dedicated and sponsored to the Grand Prince of Tuscany, Ferdinand. Stabat Mater was one of his earliest masterpieces. Even though the piece looked like it was written in haste, the string parts were simple, movements one, two, and three were repeated in the next three, and not all the text was set it was a wonderful piece. Perhaps he wrote it that way on purpose and it was just the forced essentiality of the music.
Liszt was a pianist who played a piece one time and then he “began to transpose simple passages into octaves and thirds, trills into sixths and to add phrases on his own until, in Brorodin’s words, what emerged ‘was not the same piece but an improvisation of it’” (Perenyi 205).
His compositions are considered to have led to the development of the sonata form. This was still evident late in his career. Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major (Hob. XVI:52) consists of short, balanced melodic phrases of two, four or sometimes six bars. Each melody in the exposition is evenly divided into an antecedent phrase and a consequent phrase; question and answer. This is a typical characteristic of the Classical Period which obsessed over clarity of structure. Similarly, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 2, No.1 is clearly divided into an exposition, development and recapitulation. Its lucid exposition of melodic material occurs in balanced melodic phrases. Both of these works contain short codas to each section. The fact that Beethoven’s sonata was written one year after Haydn’s, whilst he was still a student of Haydn’s, highlights the influence of Haydn over Beethoven during the early stage of his
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, like all symphonies at that time, was in four movements. The First Movement was in sonata form; which was considered to be quite powerful, as it opened up with the Fate motif. This usually ran throughout the First Movement, in one way or another. Beethoven's music often strikes with a dramatic explosion with wonderful shades of orchestral color; from the dark trombones to the sweet woodwinds, this piece definitely made an impact worth remembering, that also lasted throughout the ages. And although Liszt’s piano transcription of the First Movement of Beethoven’s Great Fifth Symphony in C minor, Op. 67 does not possess the same dramatic effect of the orchestral version, it is melodically almost identical and is
Conclusively, while being one of his earliest works, Mozart’s Minuet in F Major (K.2) is far from primitive. His use of repetition and subtle melodic and rhythmic variations keep the melody interesting enough to retain the listener’s attention. Not only this, but the harmonic surprises of the modulation and deceptive cadence keep the listener guessing in the best way possible. While at the surface this work may seem like nothing more than an AABA 32-bar dance, there is much more than that hidden throughout the work. If this is what Mozart was capable of at the mere age of six, it is unsurprising that his legacy remains to this day.
First, let’s begin by looking at the form Mozart created the symphony in. Mozart uses the sonata form for this composition, which became the most widely used form during the Classical Period. Sonata form presents a series of procedures for the appropriate structuring of a piece. Sonatas
...e mold of the sonata-allegro form; he is quite progressive with his harmonies, exploring distant keys and incorporating daring chromaticism. This sonata was written by Chopin at the height of his genius. It represents his triumph and mastery over form, harmonies, and the piano.
During his lifetime, Joseph Haydn composed 107 symphonies, about 50 divertimenti, 84 string quartets, about 58 piano sonatas, and 13 masses. In all, his surviving musical works include over 750 compositions and over 330 songs. (A large number of Haydn's works were destroyed in the 1770's, so these totals would be even higher had it not been for the two fires.) He produced such an abundance of works during his long career that a man named Anthony von Hoboken compiled a directory of the master's works, the title of which translates to Joseph Haydn - Thematic-bibliographic Listing of his Works. This three-volume directory was so helpful in sorting through the massive quantity of music that most of Haydn's works are now known through their Hoboken reference number as well as their title.