Music and the Enlightenment- Chapter 12

 

Step 1

  • Read Chapter 12: "Music and the Enlightenment" from Listen 8th ed. using the text book or eBook

  • Listen to chapter examples using the streamed format located in Launchpad

  • Store notes in your Unit 6 ePortfolio

 

Step 2

  • Submit these on-line quizzes through Launchpad

  • Store the results from these assessments in your ePortfolio using screen shots

1. Test your knowledge of concepts from Chapter 12 using the Listen Site Reading Quiz

 

 
The Symphony- Chapter 13

Step 1

  • Read Chapter 13: "The Symphony" from Listen 8th ed. using the text book or eBook

  • Listen to chapter examples using the streamed format located in Launchpad

  • Store notes in your Unit 6 ePortfolio

 

Step 2

  • Submit these on-line quizzes through Launchpad

  • Store the results from these assessments in your ePortfolio using screen shots

1. Test your knowledge of concepts from Chapter 13 using the Listen Site Reading Quiz

2. Test your knowledge of concepts from Chapter 13 using the Listen Site Listening Quiz

 
Classical Music Overview

Step 1

  • Listen to the 3 examples below to answer the following questions

  1. Share your overall impression of Classical Music. Classical music has a very elegant manner about it. It conveys emotion through well thought out phrases that are much more subtle and simplistic. I think it has a very soothing quality about it. 

  2. How does this music sound similar to Baroque Music? The instruments are basically almost the same. A lot of classical music has a center piece of strings, with brass and percussion as a secondary addition. 

  3. How does this music sound different from Baroque Music? The invention of the piano made classical music rely less on the harpsichord. Baroque music is very complex and rather rapid, for most of the time. Baroque music is also very polyphonic, aiming to have several difficult parts going on at the same time. Classical music is more based around homophony and trying to build around a melody; it has clearer intentions. 

 

A.  Mozart Divertimento

B.  Haydn Serenade

C.  Mozart Figaro

 

Step 2

  • Does this music from Mozart's Symphony 40 in g minor feel like it is grouped in 2 or 3 beats per measure? 3 beats, I'm pretty sure. 

  • Does this music from Haydn's Symphony 94 'Surprise' feel like it is grouped in 2 or 3 beats per measure? 2 beats, I'm pretty sure. 

 

 
 
Period Research

Step 1

  • Gather resources of your own choosing to answer the following questions

1.  Provide approximate dates for the Classical Period punctuated with notable world/historical events.

 

 

2.  Describe similar qualities and characteristics of Classical Period Art, Architecture and Music. First of all, the word "classical" was a take on emulating and reproducing "classics" from ancient Greece and Rome. The literature, music, architecture, and art had a certain simplistic quality to it, and after the complications that the previous eras brought, artists found the "classics" to be exactly what they needed. 

3.   In what ways has listening to the music of Mozart  been linked to I.Q. and Intellect? "The Mozart effect" is an interesting phenomena. A study conducted in 1992 at the University of California at Irvine listened to 10 minutes of a Mozart sonata before taking an IQ test. According to Dr. Gordon Shaw, the psychologist in charge of the study, the student's IQ tests went up by about 8 points. However, Dr. Frances Rauscher, a researcher on the study of music on the brain, disproved Shaw's experiment. Rauscher concluded that listening to Mozart simply increased performance on certain spatial-temporal tasks. He insisted that the money would be better spent on musical programs, because actually learning an instrument improves on empathy, memory and reading skills, multisensory skills, brain plasticity, increased blood flow to the brain, reducing stress and anxiety, and strengthens the brain's executive function on coordination and concentration. 

4.  Cite examples of why Vienna was thought of as the 'Cultural Capital of the World' during the Classical Period. Vienna was the capital of Austria, which at the time, was attracting a plethora of musical artists. Composers were like flies, and they were there because of the patrons that were willing to support classical music. The economy of the country was excellent, and that lead to the development of musical instruments, paintings, and even sculptures. Cultural development was very important and the whole of Europe was happy to give some culture. Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn were all in the city, composing and creating artistry that kept bringing people into the city. Vienna flourished under the empress Maria Theresa and the emperor Joseph II- they emancipated the peasantry, furthered education, and reduced the power of the clergy. The emperor Joseph II supported the music and literature, and his patronage encouraged a free press. 
5.  What two instruments were invented and made famous during this time period? The piano replaced the harpsichord, and single reed instruments (clarinets, anyone?) were introduced. 

6.  What are 2 features that distinguish the harpsichord from the piano? The piano is based on the mechanism of striking strings by hammers. A harpsichord is similar, just with plucking, rather than striking. A harpsichord is generally smaller, and gives a much softer sound than the piano. Harpsichords didn't have the ability to respond to velocity & suspension of notes. Here's a presentation I did in the past with differences on the piano and the harpsichord. 

7.  Provide the following Mannheim School trivia: History, Composers & Musical Innovations. The Mannheim school was put together in Mannheim, Germany, with the help from patron Duke Karl Theodor; however, the father of the school is considered to be Johann Stamitz. The school goes back to the court of Elector Charles III Philip, who moved to Mannheim in 1720, with there with his huge orchestra. People like Ignaz Holzbauer, Franz Beck, Anton Filtz, Anon and Karl Stamitz, Johann Christian Cannabich, and Carlo Giuseppe Toeschi made the Mannheim school great, and established the musical superiority of the orchestra. The school kept growing, producing virtuosity only seen rarely. The composers of the Mannheim school introduced ideas like the Mannheim Crescendo, where the whole orchestra was required to crescendo; the Mannheim Roller, an extended crescendo passage that has a melodic line that rises over the ostinato bass line; the Mannheim Rocket, a quickly passing passage that has a rising arpeggiated melodic line plus a crescendo; and a Mannheim Birds, that was an imitation of birds chirping in solo passages (my favorite). Here are some examples of compositions. 

 

Step 2

  1. Who was Haydn’s Patron? The Esterhazy family, in Vienna, supported him. 

  2. What was it that people were hoping to discover by studying Haydn’s head? Scientists that stole Haydn's head wanted to study it to know the capacity of a genius's head. They wanted to support the theory that a genius has a superior skull to normal people. 

  3. Describe the events in 1954 that led up to reuniting Haydn’s skull with the rest of his remains. Rosenbalm didn't return Haydn's head to the grave and kept it in his house. The Esterhazy family made a grand moseleum to honor Haydn (on Halloween), and when they went to get the body, they were shook. The police went looking for Rosenbalm, who convinced his wife to hide the skull, and it was never found, even after it went to the Society of Friends of Music. Eventually, after a law case, and several display-years, Haydn's skull was returned to the Esterhazy family. Haydn now rests, complete, in Eisenstadt, Austria. 

  

 
America during the Classical Period

Step 1

  • What characteristics from Francis Hopkinson, My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free (original signer of the Declaration of Independence and first Classical composer born in America) sounds "American" to you? There is a predictable course of intervals that I associate with "America". The rage is rather similar, and the lyrics revolve around freedom, which is also associated with America and its "liberties". 

 

Step 2

  • Boston born William Billings, considered to be the foremost representative of early American Music composed Chester, the original National Anthem, between 1770 and 1778, as the Revolutionary War was brewing. The hymn-like song was a call to resistance against the British.  What musical elements made this a good National Anthem?

(Musical Elements; Pitch, Rhythm, Dynamics, Tempo, Texture, Timbre, Form, Purpose, Harmony, Melody, Expression, Mood, Language, Style, etc.) This is a good National Anthem because it forms feelings of patriotism and a very grounded sense of home. It is in the major key, which makes us happy, and inspires one to.... go to war? There is a lot of brass, which is mostly marcato, and has a very easy-to-follow melodies. The song doesn't go too far up, pitch-wise, and it's at at a 4/4 tempo. There is a snare drum (I think) and strong percussion, which helps with solid resolutions. 

 

Scene from HBO miniseries, John Adams

 

LOOKIE THIS, JULIE! 

 

Text from Chester

Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
And Slav'ry clank her galling chains,
We fear them not, we trust in God,
New England's God forever reigns.

The Foe comes on with haughty Stride;
Our troops advance with martial noise,
Their Vet'rans flee before our Youth,
And Gen'rals yield to beardless Boys.

What grateful Off'ring shall we bring?
What shall we render to the Lord?
Loud Halleluiahs let us Sing,
And praise his name on ev'ry Chord.

 

Step 3

  • Provide 4 nuggets of trivia per topic using the following resources

  1. William Billings

  2. Folk Music In Colonial America

  3. The Original National Anthem

  4. Francis Hopkinson

  5. Lowell Mason

 

Here ya go :):) 

 

Step 4

  • Describe the timbre of the Glass Armonica invented by Ben Franklin and describe how it works. First of all, what a pretty instrument! The Armonica is very... ethereal. It has a high range, and is very resonant. The ringing that you get from a note blends well with the next note accompanying it. It reminds me of bells I once heard at a church, a few weeks ago. The instruments was inspired by singing glasses (we should get this in Julie's room, I think), and it works through a drilled hole within glasses. The glasses are tuned by amounts of water (originally), and Franklin tuned the glasses by differing sizes. The glasses (25 of them) are set next to each other so they can be played with ease, and when they are rotated and your hands are wet, you can be sure to produce music. 

 

 

 

 

HONORS TRACK

Can Wolfie Come out and play? 

~i don't know... can he? 

 

Use the following resources to research Mozart's Concerti:

Mozart Concertos

Top 10

Complete Concertos

Complete Works

 

1.  What is a Concerto? A concerto is a musical composition that's generally composed of three movements, in which, usually, one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra or concert band. 

2.  How many did Mozart compose? He composed 27 concertos. 

3.  What instruments were featured? The biggest instruments were the piano, flute, the clarinet, and the horn, I think. 

4.  What key signatures were used? Major keys were a big ol' popular thing at the time, so he composed in the minor, like G, C, D, and E minor. 

5.  What is your favorite Mozart Concerto?  Why? This one right here. The Piano Concerto No. 21, K.467 has some interesting variations in flavor, which makes it exciting. I loved the piano coming into the concerto when it had gotten all warmed up & all. The trills are super pretty, and because I adore the piano, the mix that it has with the violins is accentuated. The modulation 4 minutes in is just... spectacular. Pretty, pretty, pretty.