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Unit 6: Music & Death (the requiem: mass for the dead (Gabriel faure…
Unit 6: Music & Death
the requiem: mass for the dead
what is a requiem?
originally for catholic church but found a way to concert hall
composers tend to customize catholic tradition
music for comfort and spiritual sustenance
usually in latin
requiem= mass for the dead
Mozart's death
1791- died young at 35
on deathbed working on funeral mass- requiem
his last large-scale composition
died before finishing it, it was completed by a student
myths of poison, but not true
Pauper's Grave
Mozart's requiem
scored for SATB soloists plus chorus and orchestra
orchestra included more instruments- bassoon and basset horn
voices and instrument arrangement have dramatic effect
impact
JFK's funeral
9/11 commemorations
Dies Irae
last song he compiled
day or wrath for the funeral mass
emphasizes the power of divine intervention
choral opening then solo verse and choral finish
accentual and duple meter
harsh combo of major and minor
homophonic
8 verses- word painting
Faure and the late French romanticism
romantic music in France followed several streams
pianists n salons and concert halls- chopin
art song (melodie) separate from german lied
grand orchestral music and operas- berlioz and wagner
sacred music
faure's early career grounded in playing and composing music for the catholic church
Gabriel faure (1845-1924)
french
trained to be a church musician in paris
1890- composition teacher at the ecole niedermeyer
later director of paris conservatory
influential music critic
French music advocate
style is restrained and intimate
faure's requiem
1888- 1st performed for the funeral of an architect
nonstandard form- creates intimacy
freely edited latin liturgical texts
smaller chamber orchestra
7 movements
took over 20 years to write
sometimes celestial, sometimes funeral
listening guide 39: libra me
deliver me, o lord
beginning = reassurance
homophonic
pulsing ostinato
serene mood
baritone solo, SATB chorus, chamber orchestra
middle section= dies irae
forceful French horns
FF choir
ending returns to libera me
serene
soloist and choir
chapter 21: Purcell and early opera
general: early opera
opera: large- scale drama that is sung
involves vocal and instrumental music, poetry, acting, scenery, and costumes
opera not meant for realistic depiction, rather, "hyper-realty"
libretto or librettist (person)
text or script of opera
strong emotions portrayed through music
main components of opera
orchestra
overture- introduction
sinfonias- interludes between scenes
sets mood
recitative
speech-like singing
moves plot along
aira
emotinal
no action is taken- frozen in time
sung outside of the opera (concert/recital setting)
early opera in Italy and beyond
early opera an outgrowth of renaissance theatrical traditions
lavish spectacles
Monteverdi's orfeo
by 1642 public opera houses open in venice
widespread entertainment
not mythology stories about love triangles and historical figures
Monteverdi's coronation of poppea (163)
by 1700, Italian opera popular throughout europe
except in france- had own tradition
early opera in England
early 17th century masques
popular among aristocracy
combined vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance
commonwealth period (1629-1695)
stage plays forbidden- "of the devil"
plays set to music could be passed off as a "concert"
this Is the tradition behind England's first operas
listening guide 11: dido and aeneas
henry Purcell (1659-1695)
wrote- masques and operas
assimilated Italian and French styles to English choral singing
various English court posts
1st great English opera
first performed at a London girls school
based on part of virgils aeneid
aeneas shipwrecked on island of carthage
aeneas and queen of carthage- dido, fall in love
witch tricks aeneas and calls back to battle
aeneas leaves and dido dies of a broken heart
last act features a lively hornpipe and concludes with a lament over a ground bass
chapter 41: music as a soundtrack for life and death: the programmatic symphony
romantic program music
different from absolute music= music patterns designed without meanings
program music is more artistic within society
program music= instrumental music with literary or pictorial associations specified by the composer
hector berlioz (1803-1869)
born in southern france
meant to be a physician but loved music
fan of Beethoven and Shakespeare
fell in love with harriet Smithson- actress performed Shakespeare
married but loved Shakespeare actress more than her
works draw upon literacy influences
Goethe, lord Byron, and Shakespeare
genius orchestrator
wrote a book
berlioz and symphonie fantastique
music is intense and bold
first great proponent of musical romanticism in france
his music is intense, bold, and passionate
program symphony based on personal life
27
"young musician of morbid sensibility and ardent imagination, in lovesick despair"
form-thematic transformation
idee fixe
recurring musical thread unifying the five movements
varied throughout by harmony, meter, timbre, dynamics, and register
chapter 66: 21st century programmatic music
neo-romanticism
neo-romanticism
"modernizing" the 19th century orchestral tradition
reclaimed 19th century harmonic and melodic language- just new context
embracing aspects of 19th century orchestral sound, including program music
romantic style of the 1800s never really went away; still performed in concert halls
some composers maintained a commitment to romanticism, updating it
Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings
Jennifer Higdon (1962-present )
inspired by the beatles
output spans most genres, described as having an "American"sound
studied with George crumb
rooting in tonality, neo-romanticism
born in Brooklyn
Pulitzer prize in 2010 for violin concerto
teaches composition at the Curtis institute
listening guide 61
personal grief over death of her brother
overall:
lyrical- neo romantic
no key center- lots major triads
meters shift but mostly 5/4
metallic percussion- including Chinese reflex balls
written in 2000
program music
tone colors
biographical elements