I am writing this entry in response to the guide questions given in class regarding a video we watched. We are tackling Chapter 20 - Musical Taste and Style in the Enlightenment. I will talk more about it in the next entry.
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (4 January 1710 - 16 March 1736) was an Italian composer, organist, and violinist. He studied music in Jesi (now province Ancona in Italy) under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725 where he studied more under others. He was one of the most important early composers of opera buffa. Pergolesi suffered from ill health throughout his life and died young from tuberculosis. His opera seria, Il prigionier superbo, contained the the two-act intermezzo (in 18th century, was a comic operatic interlude inserted between acts or scenes of an opera seria. These intermezzi could be substantial and complete works themselves), La Serva Padrona. It One of his best and most celebrated stage works. La Serva Padrona was first produced in Naples at the San Bartolomeo theater on September 5, 1733 and had great success in Europe following Pergolesi's death.
Interior of the Teatro San Bartolomeo
There are only two short acts, and only three characters, one of whom is a mute male servant. The two singing parts are for Umberto, a middle-aged man, and his pert/cheeky servant Serpina. The story is about Serpina plotting to marry her master (my thoughts as I was watching the video: she succeeds and I don't know why she planned that in the first place. Perhaps the reason is up to the audience. To be honest.. I could not get the rationality in the character's decisions at all so it was interesting to watch/discover but the story is definitely not my cup of tea. BUT my thoughts now after some studying: maybe I could understand their actions if I watched the whole opera).
About opera buffa: - Italian term meaning “comic opera”. - An opera buffa was a parallel development and a contrast to opera seria/serious opera in which the story was a tragedy (a play that ends badly for the protagonist or others). There were no dialogues as everything was sung. The story was presented in recitative ("to recite"/tell a story quite quickly that it becomes speech-like), and there were arias ((Italian: "air"/"tune". Had more musical interest than recitative. Arias were usually in what we call “ABA” form (main section -> middle part -> main section repeated) or “Da Capo”/"back to beginning" form. In the Da Capo section the singer usually improvised, adding many embellishments and ornaments. The aria gave performers the opportunity to show off their virtuosity) or the characters to show their feelings and show off their voices)). - "An opera buffa was usually a full length work: one which would fill a whole evening’s entertainment. It was different from an “intermezzo” which was a short musical comedy that was performed during the intervals of a musical tragedy, although the difference between the two is not always obvious. The intermezzo became longer and longer during the 18th century and gradually developed into opera buffa. Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrone was an intermezzo which became very famous after Pergolesi’s death. It influenced opera buffa" (THIS PARAGRAPH MADE THINGS CLEAR TO ME BECAUSE i couldn't tell if La Serva Padrona was an intermezzo or an opera buffa and their differences until I read this).
- "It was, in part, intended as a genre that the common man could relate to more easily. Whereas opera seria was an entertainment that was both made for and depicted kings and nobility, opera buffa was made for and depicted common people with more common problems." - "The rapid Europe-wide dissemination of La Serva Padrona also hastened the reform of the stilted conventions of serious opera, whose stiff formalism lacked the color, verve, and flexibility of the lowbrow newcomer." So I confidently conclude that the last two quotations above state the reasons for this intermezzo's popularity. Sources: wikipedia, britannica
these are information given in our book and a similar format will be shown in my next entries
ch 19 german composers of the late baroque
late baroque = 18th century
leading composers
= came from German-speaking lands: Telemann, Handel, Bach family members, Haydn, Mozart
= synthesized/merged elements from Italian, French, German, and other national traditions
German-speaking central Europe was politically divided
= some rulers displayed power and wealth through patronage of the arts (Holy Roman Emperors in Vienna, electors of Saxony in Dresden, King Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia in Berlin.
= city governments employed musicians especially in Lutheran areas and town council was often responsible for hiring music directors for churches
Aristocratic musicians
= aristocrats pursued music avidly as composers and performers (Frederick the Great; Johann Ernst, prince of Weimer; Anna Amalia, princess of Prussia)
English Patrons
= Britain a unified kingdom but the monarch was weak due to revolutions in 17th century
= court musicians had low or unpaid salaries
= king had to allow court musicians to earn money outside official duties
= the presence of highly skilled, underpaid, underutilized performers in London led to the growth of the public concert
= the nobility supported music. many noblemen visited Italy to learn language, arts, culture. on their return to England, they emulated Italian aristocrats in employing household musicians and helping to fund Italian opera
= public concerts increased and became important part of musical life in Germany and England
= earnings from publishers were limited/a composer simply received a set fee from publisher for all rights to a score. copyright laws were weak. there was no notion of “composer” as a separate career
= all who composed music as a profession did so as musicians who also performed, copied, supervised, directed their own music and others’ music ๐ถ๐ต๐ท๐ฎ๐ฅ๐บ๐ถ๐ต๐ท๐ฎ๐ฅ๐บ๐ถ๐ต๐ท๐ฎ๐ฅ๐บ๐ถ๐ต๐ท๐ฎ๐ฅ๐บ๐ถ๐ต๐ท๐ฎ๐ฅ๐บ๐ถ๐ต๐ท๐ฎ
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767)
hand-colored aquatint by Valentin Daniel Preisler,
after a lost painting by Louis Michael Schneider, 1750
Telemann's signature
= regarded by his contemporaries as one of the best composers of his era
= wrote in every genre, style
= he helped establish the characteristic German style of his time: a synthesis of German counterpoint with traits from other nations
= “What I have accomplished with respect to musical style is well known. First came the Polish style, followed by the French, church, chamber and operatic styles, and [finally] the Italian style, which currently occupies me more than the others do.”
=he was his own publisher in Hamburg
= he issued the first music periodical in Germany: Der getreue Music-Meister (The True Music-Master), which made his music and that of other German composers available to amateurs and student
= his preference for relative simplicity made him more popular in his time that J.S. Bach, but he was then ignored and belittled in the 19th century
= his music was gradually revived in the 20th century
= renowned in Protestant Germany as an organ virtuoso, keyboard composer, writer of learned contrapuntal works
= focused on composing for professional performers…
= …so little of his vocal, chamber, orchestral music was published or circulated
= he embraced all major styles, forms, genres in his time except opera, blended and developed them
= some 18th century listeners found his music cluttered and old-fashioned by the time he died
= composed primarily to fulfill the needs of the positions he held
church organist = organ music
court organist = organ music
concertmaster = cantatas
court music director = solo, ensemble music, pedagogical works (he had no formal church music duties)
= anecdotes of him remind us that musicians were not free agents but were subject to the wishes of their employers
= Duke of Weimer would not let him leave so he imprisoned Bach for a month
= the employer of Christopher Graupner, council’s choice before Bach, refused to accept his resignation and instead increased his pay
= Bach learned composition primarily by copying or arranging the music of other composers (his career as cantor obliged him to teach Latin and music four house each day and to compose, copy, rehearse music for the church services)
= Bach focused on the genres used in Lutheran services: chorale settings, toccatas, fantasias, preludes, fugues
= he developed a personal and distinctive style marked by prolific imagination, mastery of counterpoint, virtuosity, extensive use of pedals.
= renowned improviser and often called upon to test new or rebuilt organs
= influenced by Vivaldi, he arranged several of his concertos for organ and harpsichord solo
= typical Vivaldi procedures: contrasting textures, sequences, circle-of-fifths progressions, clear tonal structure, returns of the opening material in new keys
= he compiled a manuscript collection: “Orgelbuchlein” (Little Organ Book)
a page in Orgelbuchlein
= contained 45 short chorale preludes
= served in church
= pedagogical aid (guidance to the beginning organist on how to develop a chorale and to improve his pedal technique)
= harpsichord music
= includes preludes, fantasias, toccatas, fugues, and variation sets
= influence of French, Italian, German models
= “English Suites”, “French Suites”, “Partitas”
= each suite contains (just as in German Suites) the standard four dance movements (allamande, courante, sarabande, gigue)
= each of the English Suites opens with a prelude on keyboard (with Italian ensemble idioms)
= 2 books both titled “The Well-Tempered Clavier”
= best known keyboard works. consisting of 24 preludes and fugue pairs designed to demonstrate the possibilities of playing in all keys on an instrument tuned in near-equal temperament
= illustrates Bach’s fugal techniques: inversion, augmentation, stretto (overlapping entrances of the subject)
= orchestral music
= Brandenburg Concertos
= Bach’s best known orchestral works are the six Brandenburg Concertos= adopted the three-movement (fast-slow-fast order of the Italian concerto), triadic themes, steady driving rhythms, ritornello forms, overall style
= cantatas (Italian term. a sacred text for musical setting introduced by Lutheran theologian and poet Erdmann Neumeister)
= musical scheme incorporated past traditions: the chorale, solo song, concertato medium, and then added to these the operatic elements: recitative and aria
= Bach wrote cantatas as cantor and music director in Leipzig
= cantata cycles
= Leipzig churches required 58 cantatas each year
= Bach composed 3 to 4 complete annual cycles (about 60 cantatas each) between 1723-1729
= Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (1724) for the first Sunday in Advent illustrates Bach’s typical procedures
= Bach based opening chorus on the chorale melody (as cantus firmus in bass), the middle movements as recitatives and arias for soloists, and ended the work with a simple four-part harmonization of the chorale
= his other church music aside from cantatas: motets, Passions, Latin service music
= Bach spent most of his life teaching, wrote music for all levels of students, worked in positions that demanded new music, embraced genres and approaches, aspired to explore all possibilities of every music he encountered
J.S. Bach's harmonic and mathematical doodles
on the bottom of BWV605 cantata
George Frideric Handel/George Friederich Handel (1685-1759)
Handel at age 68. Oil painting on canvas, entitled George Frideric Handel, created in 1756 by Thomas Hudson
Handel's signature
= German
= travelled comfortably among German, Italian, English-speaking cities
= had thorough education on organ, harpsichord, counterpoint, current German and Italian idioms from his German music teacher
= 3 years in Italy helped lay the foundations of his style
= learned how to create supple, long-breathed, rhythmically varied melodies from Scarlatti’s cantatas and operas (Handel’s Agrippina)
= matured as a composer in England (country then most hospitable to foreigners). he spent most of his mature life in London, becoming a naturalized British citizen, and wrote all his major works for British audiences
= master of all types of vocal and instrumental music
= invented the genre English oratorios for his Italian operas
= won international renown and his music has been performed ever since
= Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749)
= a wind band suite
= the Duke of Mantagu made clear to Handel that King George had a preference for only martial instruments and drums, and hoped there would be "no fiddles". Handel omitted the string instruments against his will
= "the Music for the Royal Fireworks is itself a political gesture, as was the event for which it was written. In 1748, England and France had signed the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle to mark the end of the War of Austrian Succession which involved just about everyone - the Prussians, the Spanish and the Austrians themselves, as well as the two signatories to the peace treaty. To celebrate the peace, a spectacular display was to be held in London’s Green Park and Handel, the King’s chosen composer was the man to write the music"
= its public rehearsal in 1749 attracted 12, 000 people
Caption reads: A Perspective View of the Magnificent Structure erected in the Green Park for the Royal Fireworks exhibited the 27 of April 1749 on account of the General Peace.
Image supplied by Pains Fireworks
= for the first time, a composer was working for the public, not just for a church, court, town council
= he was able to measure and serve the taste of the public because of his cosmopolitan and eclectic style that drew on German, Italian, French, and English music
= he enjoyed the generous support of his patrons (such as British monarchs) from his early years (in Italy) to the end of his life
Interior view of Hรคndelhaus (Handel House), Halle, Germany. Handel was born
in this house in 1685 and lived there until he left Halle in 1703. Photo: Iqmanuelnavarro
HANDEL in OPERA
= 36 years devoted to composing and directing operas
= first opera: Almira (1705)
= uniquely international: combined French overtures and dances, Italian arias and recitatives, German recitatives, counterpoint, orchestration, doubling of vocal line with one/more instruments
= Rinaldo (1711)
= first opera in Italian composed for London
= established his reputation in England
= London at the time was interested in Italian opera
= a Handel opera was staged almost every season
= the Royal Academy of Music
= established 1718-19 by about 60 wealthy gentlemen and with support of the king
= a joint stock company for producing Italian operas
= Handel was music director
= he traveled to recruit singers (recruits such as Senesino, Giovanni Bononcini, Francesca Cuzzoni, Faustina Bordoni)
= some of his best operas were composed for this company
= subjects of Handel’s operas were the usual ones at the time: episodes from lives of Roman heroes, tales of magic and adventure of the Crusades
= dissolved in 1729. the cause was mainly financial (rising salaries for singers). Handel and a partner took over the theatre and formed a new company, and had several great successes. His partner Senesino left (1733) and joined a different company and the two competed, spent so much on singers and staging (and so divided the public) that they both went nearly bankrupt
= recitative styles
= reinforced the rapid changes of emotion in a character’s monologue and it punctuated the singer’s phrases
= 2 distinct types
= one accompanied only by basso continuo later called the recitativo semplice/simple recitative and eventually recitativo secco/dry recitative (dialogues and monologues in speech-like fashion as much as possible)
= recitativo obbligato and later recitativo accompagnato/accompanied recitative (used orchestral outbursts to dramatize tense situations)
= arias
= solo da capo arias allowed characters to respond lyrically
= each aria represented a specific mood or affection (emotion), or 2 contrasting but related affection in A and B sections
= had to display the skill of performer and allocated according to the importance of the character
= the prima donna/first lady, the soprano singing the lead female role, normally demanded the most and best arias (hence the modern meaning of the phrase ^ - ^)
= sinfonias
= instrumental sinfonias marked key momentssuch as battles, ceremonies
= the orchestra is usually fuller than for Scarlatti operas, with more use of winds, as in French operas
= vocal ensembles larger than duets (like choruses) are rare
ORATORIOS
= 1730s, Handel devised a new genre that brought him greatest popularity and wealth: the English oratorio
= in his English oratorios, he continued aspects of Italian tradition (setting dialogues in recitatives and lyrical verses as arias. Italian oratorio was essentially an opera on sacred subject presented in concert usually in a religion building rather that stage), but Handel and his librettists brought into their oratorios elements foreign to Italian opera, taken from Grench classical drama, ancient Greek tragedy, German Passion, English masque and full anthem
= Esther - Handel’s first oratorio in English revised from a masque
= Handel fully committed himself to the new genre only after remarkable success
= Messiah - Handel’s most famous work
INSTRUMENTAL WORKS
= Handel made his reputation with vocal works but he wrote a great deal of instrumental music
= much were published by John Walsh in London, keeping Handel’s name before the public in their home music-making. there were also unauthorized prints by other publishers to which he received nothing
= most popular are his two suites for orchestra or wind, both composed for the king and intended for outdoor performance
= Water Music (1717), played from a boat on the River Thames during a procession
= Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749), to accompany fireworks set off in London park to celebrate the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle
= only a few pieces were published in his lifetime, almost all for keyboard and the rest remained in handwritten copies
= Bach’s sons (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Christian Bach) were influenced by him but went their own ways
= Mozart knew The Art of Fugue, Haydn owned a copy of the Mass in B Minor
= Bach was promoted by German musicians, in part for reasons of nationalism
= The Bach-Gesellschaft (Bach Society) founded by Robert Schumann and others published a collected edition of Bach’s works, completed by 1900
= by the late 19th century, Bach had reached godlike status, his music now everywhere
= three of Bach’s works: movements from Brandenburg Concerto, The Well-Tempered Clavier, and a violin partita were among the 27 pieces of recorded music placed on Voyager 1 and 2 (the first man made objects to travel in space)
Voyager 1, launch September 5, 1977 (left) and Voyager 2, launchedAugust 20, 1977 (right)
Handel
= where Bach was resurrected, Handel never left
= his oratorios have been performed continually since they were written
= 25 years after Handel’s death, King George III sponsored a large Handel festival (1784), using the public’s affection for Handel to rebuild the kind’s reputation (after unpleasantness in American colonies)
= late 18th and 19th century, amateur choral societies sprang up in English and German-speaking Europe and Handel’s oratorios became the core of their repertoire. through this, Handel became the first classical composer, the first to attain a permanent place in the performing repertoire
= for many listeners today, Bach and Handel are the Baroque
I'm again in Moonleaf Maginhawa for internet and because I can never be progressive in the comfort of my bed at my boarding house. My crush ain't here (he also goes here for internet), but two of my batchmates from music are. I actually don't like the drinks here. They're so damn sweet and artificial, there's no variation in texture at all it's just so uninteresting can I ever finish their drinks happily zzz. I think this project blog is pretty useful. I'm okay with writing lengthy and I think I'm decent at writing. I also have a desire to get better at it because I don't want to be just decent, I want to be good (in my terms). I have to try hard not to post wrong information so I really have to read and google things to understand better. It also helps lay thoughts/ideas/info and retain them and boi I really need that because I'm spending time and money in these music literature classes I'll feel bad if I forget them.. I've had moments with fellow college of music people who're like "I studied that before but I forgot now" and I don't want to be that. Even if I'm not the most interested and fascinated and eager, I'm still trying to avoid feeling bad/regretful about some things. What's important is I get the ideas across (for my sake really when I'm reading this from the future). I also think this is good distraction (but it is also difficult for me to get myself in the right environment and mindset/state to want to start mo v i n g . )
Soo this chapter talks about Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, Franรงois Couperin, and Jean-Philippe Rameau. Didn’t know who the last 4 ppl were to be honest. I’d just hear their names sometimes. As for Bach, well I thought his music was classical. It's actually Baroque, and all the rest mentioned above as well, as they're from the Baroque period. I suggest listening to Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Bach because it’s definitely something you’re going to be familiar with (for non-musicians. I only learned that that is its title two days ago).
“Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections,” (i.e., it’s fast, shows how skilled the performer is) and
“a fugue is a compositional procedure/technique characterized by the systematic imitation (repetition of a melody in a polyphonic texture shortly after its first appearance in a different voice) of a principal theme (called the subject) in simultaneously sounding melodic lines (counterpoint).”
Afterwards, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I like this a lot because it’s so thematic especially with the circle of fifths progressions (reminds me of those romance dramas I watched in my high school days). My favorite from the four is “Winter” because of the technicality required from the soloist. I go oooooohhh watching videos of the soloist perform. In general though, Four Seasons I think is a masterpiece! I think the ritornellos (recurring phrase, main theme), episodes (not main theme but adds to the overall construction), tutti (part where all instruments are played). All those go so well/perfect together/at the right time and I am drawn into the music/get lost in it/become unaware of the time.
About the Four Seasons
- written about 1720/1721, a group of four violin concertos (musical composition in which a solo instrument is set off against anorchestral ensemble. Typically a cycle of several contrasting movements integrated tonally and often thematically), each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year
- unusually for the period, Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying sonnets (Italian “sonetto”/“little poem”. a poem with 14 lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure which originated in Italy)
- stands as one of the earliest and most detailed examples of program music—i.e., music with a narrative element
I read that, if you wanted to show one person off while still letting the [perhaps] less skilled musicians perform, do a concerto! Vivaldi also worked at a hospice in Italy, where he taught homeless girls music. Concertos served both as entertainment for the people and as lessons for his students of different skill levels. I think Vivaldi was a really great teacher and wanted all the best to his students. Now let's check out Rameau. This French guy was one of the most important music theorist in da world. He coined the words tonic (the center of tonality, the note you go home to/want to go home to, subdominant (5th below tonic), and dominant (5th above tonic), and that these three were the pillars of tonality. He said dissonances create tension, while consonances are resolutions. oooOkey my butt is tired from sitting and I wonder what happens if I asked this place to play music from this metal band I really love (Deftones). Ooh now they're playing the hit "Let Her Go" by Passenger and it got so silent here @ _ @ I wonder if that song's nostalgic for the ppl here. Uh I will continue this another time I just cant anymore i i i i sleep
Hi to my first post which I’m actually typing into Pages of Mac because I don’t have a website yet. I’m starting late as well (but I believe it’s not too late!) because of the lazy person I am (not that I’m proud of it, I’m just being honest with how I’ve been about some things, but not that the project is bad idea either! I think it’s founded on solid objectives. It’s a creative way to learn and keep track of them, and regularity is vital in learning, of course. I’m just lazy on s o m e days that’s all…)
What I plan to do is share what I learn in class and in our book “___” (gad idk the title so ill skip it for now). I already expect that most often, my entries will be from reading the book, because in class my mind tends to wander elsewhere and then I can’t connect the information raining down in the many corners of the classroom (this is an opportunity to add that our classroom is pretty cool-looking because it’s actually a music hall ^ - ^ and I think the ceiling lights are really cute. They’re round and emit yellowish orange-y light and I want to touch them because I don’t know what material they’re made of. I can’t even tell if the material is smooth or rough and it looks recycled or maybe the whole thing is just old. Those curved wooden panels on the wall are cute too. Don’t know what they’re for though. I use cute a lot to define things that make me light up/go oooh waht are those). I think it’s pretty clear this is not going to be purely academic. I also plan to add my thoughts, be it about the lessons or some stuff that’s going around (like I’m in Moonleaf Maginhawa right now just so I can access the internet. And my crush is behind me oh noo gotta look scholarly here). I think this way it will help me with writing.
To whoever stumbles upon thy website, hi. I mostly study/perform/do music stuff. That said, I wasn’t born into a musical or, in general, artistic family. And sadly my family still (me going two years in my program) does not understand where the fuck I’m gonna go in life with music. It was (past tense) hard to want to be a better musician/artist. I only got to encounter “music literature” when I got in the college. So before I got admitted, I was the kind of person who calls renaissance, baroque, classical, contemporary music, “classical”. I was a complete philistine! And I still fervently believe I'm very lacking of the knowledge expected from someone of the musicology department (though I'm not taking musicology and I don't see myself taking it atm). Admittedly it's hard to be interested in music literature despite it being new to me. I think it's because I'm not attached or I feel no connection to it simply because I didn't grow up alongside it. I'm dealing with some interesting information but I never grew up with the curiosity or wonder to indulge myself in it now.
Because I’m new to all this information (and there’s a looot), I want to go about my entries in ways that I believe is understandable for future me and to any person, musician or not (i can try). And going by casually/conversational because I can’t see it being another way. I’m really just gonna write like I’m talking to myself, just like with a diary.
Off to the next entry. I’ll be talking about the stuffs (sorry my word choices can be so informal hehe.) on chapter 18, the first chapter of Part 4 in the book “__”. This book is very informative btw. It has a little bit about geography, politics, history, war, sciences, philosophies, e t c , and connects those to music. Personally I believe music (and anything else) is shaped by geography. Geography shaping cultures. I could talk about geography and my fondness of it in a different time and place though.
