Objectives
- Explain how the Classical period (1750-1825) characteristics of order, objectivity, and harmonious proportion relate to the music characteristics of the period.
- Summarize how the American Revolution (1775-83) and the French Revolution (1789-99) profoundly changed political systems and social order.
- Classify the large-scale musical forms in which the Classical masters composed.
- Explain music making in the context of the royal court and the patronage system.
- Define form and absolute music, and relate these concepts to one another.
- Differentiate between the main musical forms of the Clasical-era by summarizing the development of the symphony, sonata, string quartet, and the concerto.
- Define and analyze the symphony, sonata, string quartet, and concerto forms in the context of the Classical period.
- Describe the impact of the major Classical composers Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
- Discuss the impact of Beethoven's thirty-two piano sonatas.
- Compare and contrast the two types of Italian opera: opera buffa and opera seria.
The Transition to Romanticism: Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestral Works
Beethoven completed nine symphonies, works that influenced the whole future of music by the expansion of the traditional classical form. The best known are the Third (Eroica), the Fifth, the Sixth, Pastoral, and the Ninth, Choral. The less satisfactory Wellington's Victory, Op. 91, is a minor 15-minute long orchestral work composed to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's victory over Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria (Spain) on June 21, 1813.
For the theatre and various other occasions Beethoven wrote a number of Overtures, including four for his only opera, Fidelio, one under that name and the others under the name of the heroine, Leonora. Other Overtures include Egmont, Coriolan, Prometheus, The Consecration of the House, and The Ruins of Athens.
Concertos
Beethoven completed one violin concerto and five piano concertos, as well as a triple concerto for violin, cello and piano, and a Choral Fantasia for solo piano, chorus, and orchestra.
Chamber Music
Violin and Piano Sonatas: Beethoven wrote ten sonatas for violin and piano, of which the Spring and the Kreutzer are particular favorites with audiences.
Cello Sonatas: The Cello Sonatas and sets of Variations for cello and piano, including one set based on Handel's See Here the Conquering Hero Comes and others on operatic themes from Mozart, are a valuable part of any cellist's repertoire.
String Quartets: The possibilities of the string quartet were further extended by Beethoven. Even with his first, Opus 18 set of quartets, but it is possibly the named quartets, the group of three dedicated to Prince Razumovsky and known, therefore, as the Razumovsky Quartets, Opus 59, that are best known. The later string quartets offer great challenges to both players and audience, and include the remarkable Grosse Fuge (Great Fugue) a gigantic work, discarded as the final movement of the String Quartet, Opus 130, and published separately.
Trios: Beethoven wrote a number of Trios for violin, cello and piano. Two of the most popular ones are the Archduke, and the Ghost Trios.
Piano Music
Piano Sonatas: Beethoven's 32 numbered piano sonatas make full use of the developing form of piano, with its wider range and possibilities of dynamic contrast. There are also interesting sets of variations, including a set based on God save the King and another on Rule Britannia, variations on a theme from the Eroica Symphony and a major work based on a theme by the publisher Diabelli. The best known of the sonatas are those that have earned themselves affectionate nicknames, the Pathétique, Op. 13, Moonlight, Op. 27/2, Waldstein, Op. 53, Appassionata, Op. 57, Les Adieux, Op. 81a, and the Hammerklavier, Op. 106.
Other Piano Music: Less substantial piano pieces include three sets of Bagatelles, and the all too well known Für Elise, with the Rondo a capriccio, known in English as Rage Over a Lost Penny.
Choral and Vocal Music
Beethoven's most impressive choral work is the Missa Solemnis, written for the enthronement of his pupil the Archduke Rudolph as Archbishop of Olmutz, but finished too late for that occasion. An earlier work, the oratorio The Mount of Olives, is less well known.
Beethoven also wrote a number of songs. Of these the best known are probably the settings of Goethe, which did little to impress the venerable poet and writer, who ignored their existence, and the cycle of six songs known as An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved).
Dance Music
Like Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven was sometimes employed in the practical business of providing dance music for court and social occasions. Beethoven wrote a number of sets of Minuets, German Dances and Contredanses, ending with the so-called Mödlinger Dances, written for performers at a neighboring inn during a summer holiday outside Vienna.
Works Without Opus
There is a long list of Beethoven works without opus number—Werk ohne Opuszahl (WoO). Additionally, in 1957, the Swiss musicologist and composer Willy Hess (b.1906) published a catalog of Beethoven works, and between 1959 and 1971, he also produced 14 volumes of supplements to the complete Beethoven edition, as well as numerous editions of separate works. An interesting web project entitled The Unheard Beethoven, provides comprehensive lists of WoO, as well as works by Hess number.
“Many, many composers have been able to write heavenly tunes and respectable fugues. Some composers can orchestrate the C-major scale so that it sounds like a masterpiece, or fool with notes so that a harmonic novelty is achieved. But this is all mere dust...nothing compared to the magic ingredient sought by them all: the inexplicable ability to know what the next note has to be. Beethoven had this gift in a degree that leaves them all panting in the rear guard.
“Beethoven broke all the rules, and turned out pieces of breath-taking rightness. Rightness—that's the word! When you get the feeling that whatever note succeeds the last is the only possible note that can rightly happen at that instant, in that context, then chances are you're listening to Beethoven. Melodies, fugues, rhythms—leave them to the Tchaikovskys and Hindemiths and Ravels. Our boy has the real goods, the stuff from Heaven, the power to make you feel at the finish: Something is right in the world. There is something that checks throughout, that follows its own law consistently: something we can trust, that will never let us down...”
-Leonard Bernstein
