1. Music in the Age of Enlightenment

2. MU111: Unnerving Pop Quiz Question
You will hear a work that we haven’t studied. Name the:
composer
genre (type of composition), and
briefly explain your reaction to hearing works in this genre.

3. J. S. Bach: Fugue from The Art of the Fugue

4. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

5. ? Dates/Basics A. Classical Period Conventionally = 1750-c. 1820
First works
by Haydn
Mozart in mature
classical style
Wright’s
end of
classical
Pd.
Death of
J. S. Bach=
End of Baroque
Early Classical
Styles Evident ?
B. Period of transition btw. Baroque & Clasical ( ):
1. Pre-Classical Period
2. Early Classical Period
3. Galant Period
C. High Classical Era: “Big 3”=Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

6. Dates/Basics (cont.) D. Classical Era in Music = Age of
Enlightenment/Reason

7. II. Social and Cultural Background
to the Classical Era
Big idea: Music embodies the social and cultural values of those who perform and consume it.

8. to the Classical Era II. Social and Cultural Background
A. Enlightenment Ideals: Reason & Equality
1. Equality of Access to Ideas
2. Political Equality
3. Social Equality
4. Equality of Taste
B. Musical Consequences of “Equality”= New Audience
1. Rise of Public Concerts
= Increased Importance for
Instrumental music
2. Comic opera (opera buffa)

11. to the Classical Era II. Social and Cultural Background
A. Enlightenment Ideals: Reason & Equality
1. Equality of Access to Ideas
2. Political Equality
3. Social Equality
4. Equality of Taste
B. Musical Consequences of “Equality”= New Audience
1. Rise of Public Concerts
= Increased Importance for
Instrumental music
2. Comic opera (opera buffa)
3. 18th-cent. as the Age of the Dilettante

13. to the Classical Era II. Social and Cultural Background
A. Enlightenment Ideals: #1. Equality
1. Equality of Access to Ideas
2. Political Equality
3. Social Equality
4. Equality of Taste
B. Musical Consequences of “Equality”= New Audience
1. Rise of Public Concerts
= Increased Importance for
Instrumental music
2. Comic opera (opera buffa)
3. 18th-cent. as the Age of the Dilettante
4. Simplification: short phrases; often repeated;
melody & accompaniment texture (not complex counterpoint)

14. II. Social and Cultural Background to the Classical Era (cont.)
C. Enlightenment Ideals: #2. Reason/Rational Thought
(Esp. logic, unity, order, proportion)

17. C. Enlightenment Ideals: #2. Reason/Rational Thought
D. Musical Consequences:
Symmetry, Antecedant-Consequent Phrases, Clear Forms

18. II. Social and Cultural Background to the Classical Era (cont.)
E. Enlightenment Ideals: #3. Fascination with Nature
and The Natural
F. Musical Consequences
1. Rejection of the artificial
2. Emphasis on the facile, comprehensible:
(rejection of complexity, esp. counterpoint)

19. III. Musical Style in the Classical Era
A. Melody
1. Phrases often stated, then repeated (w or w/o variation)
2. Sections connected by transition (theme vs. filler)
3. Phrases marked off by clear cadences
4. Antecedent/Conseqent pairs common
5. Classical Melodies shorter, simpler, discrete sub-phrases
B. Rhythm
1. Baroque driving, uniform rhythms rejected;
instead changes/contrasts in surface rhythm
2. Changes/contrasts can be abrupt or gradual

20. III. Musical Style in the Classical Era (cont.)
C. Dynamics
1. Specified more by composers

23. III. Musical Style in the Classical Era (cont.)
C. Dynamics
1. Specified more by composers
2. Gradual changes (crescendo/diminuendo) more important
3. Volume not an ornament but structurally important
D. Harmony
1. Similar to Baroque (mainly diatonic)
2. Harmony frequently changes more slowly
(harmonic rhythm)
E .Texture
1. Homophonic/Melody + Accompaniment

24. IV. Vienna and the Mature Classical Style (after 1770)
A. Haydn, Mozart (1770s), later Beethoven (from 1790s)
B. Vienna as Cultural Crossroads

25. Classical Period Conventionally = 1750-1820
Death of
J. S. Bach=
End of Baroque
Wright’s
End of
Classical
Pd.
First Works
Of Haydn
Mozart in Mature
Classical Style
Early Classical
Styles Evident

26. IV. Vienna and the Mature Classical Style (after 1770)
A. Haydn, Mozart (1770s), later Beethoven (from 1790s)
B. Vienna as Cultural Crossroads
C. Retain Virtues of Enlightenment values
(clear, lucid, widely intelligible)
But re-introduce complexity for expressive effect
Irregularity/disruption gains expressive effect
Reintegration of imitation/polyphony
Gradual changes project changing emotions
Reintroduce chromaticism

27. D. Bottom Line on High Classical Style:
Retain: clarity, lucidity, wide appeal of early classical style
Reintroduce: Complexity.
(And against background of simple, complex moments = gain in expressive power!)

28. in E-flat Major (finale)
Small hint of what’s in store:
Mozart:
Symphony No. 39
in E-flat Major (finale)