chapter 18: the late romantics responses to romanticism
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 18:The Late Romantics
Responses to Romanticism
Key Terms
Classicism
Double stops
Cross-rhythms
Romantic nostalgia
Parody
Round
Responses to Romanticism
After 1850, music continued to develop along Romantic lines•Seemed increasingly out of place in a world
devoted to industrialization & commerce•Music became an emotional fantasy-world for a
society that suppressed feelings in real life
Composers responded in different ways•Brahms used Classical models to temper
Romanticism’s unbridled emotionalism•Mahler’s music laments Romanticism’s loss of
innocence & credibility
The Renewal of Classicism:Brahms
Rejected many early Romantic innovations•Went back to Classical genres & forms•Wrote string quartets & other chamber works,
symphonies, and concertos•Found new life in Classical forms – sonata
form, theme & variations, rondo
Beethoven’s music was a lifelong model•Brahms was inspired by his nobility & power•Brahms tried to temper the richness & variety
of Romantic emotion with Classicism’s strength & poise
Johannes Brahms(1833-1897)
Son of a bassist in Hamburg
Started musical studies at age 7•Later played piano in taverns & wrote tunes
Met Robert & Clara Schumann at age 20•They befriended & encouraged Brahms
Part of Brahms-Wagner controversy•Signed manifesto against Wagner’s music
Uneventful bachelor existence in Vienna•Steadily wrote symphonies, concertos, piano
works, chamber music, German Requiem, etc.
Brahms, Violin Concerto in D
Concertos written to show off virtuosos•Often the composer – e.g. Mozart or Chopin•Brahms wrote this one for Joseph Joachim•Joachim helped out, even wrote 1st movement
cadenza
Brahms uses Classical movement plan•Three movements, fast-slow-fast•1st movement double-exposition sonata form•Last movement rondo form, the most common
Classical concerto ending
Brahms, Violin Concerto, III (1)
Rondo theme has a spirited gypsy-like lilt•Exoticism – gypsy fiddling popular in Vienna•Double-stops add to virtuoso fiddling effect
•Cross-rhythms at the end disrupt meter
Brahms, Violin Concerto, III (2)
Episodes provide various contrasts•Romantic sweep in B
•Lyrical tune in C
•Short cadenzas feature soloist
Brahms, Violin Concerto, III (3)
Thematic transformation in coda•Swinging march version of rondo theme (over
a drum beat) in very fast compound meter
Romantic Nostalgia: Mahler
Embraced Romanticism’s excesses•Wrote huge program symphonies, some with
solo singers and choruses•Often attempted to express profound spiritual
or metaphysical messages•He once said a symphony is “an entire world”
But he could not fully enter this Romantic fantasy world•He pits lost innocence against cynical realism•Music feels uneasy, exaggerated, distorted
Gustav Mahler(1860-1911)
Born & raised in a dysfunctional familyMusical training at Vienna ConservatoryPursued rising career as a conductor•Led many of the finest orchestras of his day•Ten years at Vienna Opera – but anti-Semitism
made for a stormy tenure there•Ended career with Metropolitan Opera & New
York Philharmonic
Could only compose during the summer•Wrote 10 long symphonies & 6 song cycles
Mahler, Symphony No. 1
At first a one-movement symphonic poem•Grew into a five-movement symphony•Finally revised into four movements
Includes fragments from his songs•Songs about lost love
Originally a program symphony•Hero overcomes distress of lost love
Individual style of orchestration•Contrapuntal melodies pass from instrument to
instrument in kaleidoscopic fashion
Third Movement:Background
March inspired by a nursery picture•The Huntsman’s Funeral Procession•Forest animals shed tears as they follow the
hearse of a hunter•Full of pomp & ceremony – torches, solemn
gowns, a banner, pallbearers, a bell, a choir, & a complement of mourners
•Why would animals mourn the death of their tormentor in such a lavish manner?
•The painting’s innocuous qualities mask its incongruities
Third Movement:Use of “Frère Jacques”
Similar incongruities pervade the March•On first hearing the music seems genuinely
solemn, mournful, perhaps even tragic•This feeling is completely deflated when you
finally recognize the tune – “Frère Jacques”!•Distortions make the tune harder to recognize•Mahler casts the tune in minor mode, slows
down the tempo, & alters a few notes•Tune introduced by the last instrument you
would expect – a bass playing in high register•Vulgar dance band phrases also deflate mood
Third Movement:Funeral March (1)
Very free march-trio-march form
Ironic funeral march & personal lament•March theme a distorted minor-key parody of
children’s round “Frère Jacques”•Trio taken from a Mahler song about lost love
March theme treated as a round•Over mournful, monotonous drumbeat
Third Movement:Funeral March (2)
Section 2 present dance-band fragments•Exaggerated, parodistic, even vulgar phrases
•Return to funeral-march motives at the end
Third Movement:Funeral March (3)
Trio offers a complete contrast•Begins with warm major-mode sounds•Trio’s theme is a delicate, lyrical melody•Tune from a nostalgic song about lost love• Its innocent quality soon turns bittersweet
Third Movement:Funeral March (4)
March returns in final section•Faster tempo with new counterpoints
•Dance-band phrases interrupt at even faster tempo for a wild moment of near chaos
•Return of funeral-march motives that ended Section 2 – the music dies away