Transcript Classical Era Classicism Defined The period of the ancient Greeks and Romans A standard (enduring) Genre of music Time period 1750-1820

Classical Era
Classicism Defined
The period of the
ancient Greeks and
Romans
A standard (enduring)
Genre of music
Time period
1750-1820
Architecture
Recalled ancient
classical
U.S. Capital
Monticello
Music of the Classical Era
Began: death of Bach
Ended: Beethoven (mid-life)
Classical Thinking
Reason was supreme
Sought the perfect
society
Enlightenment
Beauty
Rules were valuable
Music of the Classical Era
Written for middle class
Non-sophisticated Listener
Simple and Melodic Themes
Large Room
Movements have beginning, middle, end
Easier to play
LIFE-TIME-LINES
BEETHOVEN 1770-1827
MOZART 1756-1789
HAYDN 1732-1809
1770
1820
Joseph Haydn
Father figure to Mozart and
Beethoven
Worked for Prince Esterhazy
Father of the symphony
Included jokes in his symphonies
Wrote in most genres
Freely gave time and advice
Relationship with Mozart
“I write my music in order that
the weary and worn or the men
burdened with affairs might
enjoy a few minutes of solace
and refreshment.”
— Haydn
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Began composing before age 5
Life of depression and
creativity
In Salzburg
Court composer
Vienna
Friendship with Haydn
Struggle for money
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1756-1791
Born in Salzburg
7th child of Leopola and Anna
Maria
only he and sister Nannerl
survived infancy
The Mozart Family
Mozart played for
kings and queens.
This portrait of
him was painted in
1762, when he was
six years old.
Children during Mozart’s time dressed
just like adults. He just finished playing
for Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.
As Mozart grew
older, his
reputation spread.
Not only was he a
gifted musician,
but he could also
compose his own
music.
Mozart at 14, 1770.
Able to hear complete pieces in his
head
Capability for output
10 years:
8 Symphonies
17 Piano Concertos
6 Operas
Clarinet quartet and quintet
Requiem Mass
11 String Quartets
5 String Quintets
Many Individual Works
“Though it be long, the work is complete
and finished in my mind. I take out of
the bag of my memory what has
previously been collected into it. For this
reason the committing to paper is done
quickly enough.”
— Mozart
“What a delight this is I cannot tell — all
this producing takes place in a pleasing,
lively dream.”
— Mozart
Mozart was 36
years old when
he died in 1791.
In his short life
he wrote over
600
compositions.
This portrait, painted after Mozart’s
death, is said to look the most like
him. It was painted in 1819.
Mozart’s Music
Simple melodies
Contrasting moods
Rich orchestration
Perfected the serenade
Mozart’s Music
Favored the piano
Concertos written for his performance
Later symphonies considered his best
Operas
Ludwig Van Beethoven
1770-1827.
Born in Bonn.
Died in Vienna.
Young adulthood
Beethoven went to
Vienna, Austria to
learn more about
composing when he
was 17.
He had to return
home when his
mother died, and
help raise his
brothers.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Supported his family as a child
Scholarship to Vienna
Played for Mozart
Made the piano popular
Second scholarship to
Vienna
Taught by Haydn
“I carry my thoughts within me long,
often very long before I write them
down. As I know what I want, the
fundamental idea never deserts me. It
mounts, it grows in stature. I hear, I see
the picture in its whole extent standing
all of a piece before my spirit, and there
remains for me only the task of writing
it down.”
-Beethoven
Beethoven’s Music
2 periods of composition
Classical
Romantic
May have been
caused by his
oncoming deafness
Sadness
Moonlight Sonata
Beethoven Symphonies
Supreme architect
Tied all movements into a theme
5th
Fate versus hope
9th
Finale
Ode To Joy
Jacques Louis David
Napoleon
in his study
Jacques Louis David
Coronation of Napoleon
“How humiliated I have felt if somebody
standing beside me heard the sound of a flute in
the distance and I heard nothing...It is
impossible for me to say to people, ‘Speak
louder, for I am deaf.’ How would it be possible
for me to admit to a weakness of the one sense
that should be perfect to a higher degree in me
than in theirs. So forgive me if you see me draw
back from your company which I would so
gladly share. I would have ended my life. It
was only my art that held me back for it seemed
impossible to leave the world until I have
brought forth all that is within me.”
— Beethoven
“I am resolved to rise superior to every
obstacle. With whom need I be afraid of
measuring my own strength? I will take
Fate by the throat. It shall not overcome
me. O how beautiful it is to be alive—
would that I could live a thousand times.”
-Beethoven
Beethoven’s Deafness
“Though born with a fiery, active temperament
I was soon to withdraw from society, to live a
life alone. If at times I tried to forget all this, oh
how harshly was I flung back by the doubly sad
experience of my bad hearing. Yet it wasn’t
possible for me to say to people, “Speak
Louder, shout for I am deaf! Ah, how could I
possibly admit to an infirmity in the one sense
that ought to be more perfect in me than in
others, a sense that I once possessed in the
highest degree.”
He could hear the music inside
his head….and he wasn’t
bothered with other noises
around him.
He wrote some of his best music
during this time.
Patronage System
Exchange of artistic services for
A place to live
A Salary
Clothes
Rank in Society
Depends on the patron.
Servant to aristocratic patronage.
Ruminate on...
patronage and
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
why the French Revolution and
industrialization led to the demise of
patronage.
why less complex music is favored in
classical culture.
Patronage: a Comparison
Haydn: patron was Prince Esterhazy
His Later Years
He still composed when he
was deaf…..how could he do
this?
Haydn?
Haydn was a traditionalist first.
Haydn believed that ISOLATION forces
one to be come an original.
He was isolated in the Esterhazy Palace
for most of his career. His music is
original.
Beethoven will realize this pathos later in
in career.
“My prince was always satisfied with my
works. I not only had the encouragement of
constant approval, but as conductor of an
orchestra, I could make experiments,
observe what produced an effect and what
weakened it, and was thus in a position to
improve, alter, make additions, or omissions
and be as bold as I pleased. I was cut off
from the world. There was no one to
confuse or torment me. I was forced to
become original.”
— Haydn
Patronage: a Comparison
Mozart:
“[My pay is] too much for what I do,
too little for what I could do.”
— Mozart
Patronage: a Comparison
Beethoven
Beethoven manipulated the patronage system so that he could live
more freely.
Gave music lessons to wealthy families.
Sold music to many publishers.
Even when Napoleon was threatening the whole survival of
continental Europeans, Beethoven had contacts with publishers in
England who would continue to publish his music.
Beethoven: Patronage
Invited into the homes of the aristocracy.
Treated as an equal to the aristocracy.
Believed that one must be treated as an equal if music is to be
produced.
Beethoven’s Contract
“But as it has been demonstrated that only one
when he is free from care as possible can devote
himself to a single department of activity and
create works of magnitude which are exalted and
which ennoble art, the undersigned have decided
to place Herr Ludwig van Beethoven in a
position where the necessities of life shall not
cause him embarrassment or clog his powerful
genius.”
Beethoven’s Contract
All Beethoven had to do was to declare
Vienna his home.”
It is good to walk among the aristocracy,
but first you must MAKE them respect
you.”