Music 344—Encounter 2
Beethoven
 Classic or Romantic?
Readings
I. Group Presentation Two
II. Final Paper Preparation
Listening Assignment 2
Beethoven Style Period Guide
Extra Credit Listening
Due Dates: Part I due on the date of your presentation
Part II due Monday, February 22, 2021

What to hand in for Encounter 2?—

  • Part I: Give Group Presentation Two and hand in a one-page summary of your presentation notes and a bibliography in MLA format with at least eight sources (due on the day of the presentation)
  • Part II: Preliminary bibliography for the Final Paper (see requirements in Final Paper Preparation below).
  • Listening: Nothing to hand in for the listening assignment. The Classicism Unit Exam will test you on this material.

Readings—

  • Burkholder, J. Peter. A History of Western Music, 10th ed. W.W. Norton, 2019.
    • Chapter 23—Classic Music in the Late Eighteenth Century, pp. 533-551
    • Chapter 24—Revolution and Change, pp. 552-579
  • Burkholder, J. Peter. Norton Anthology of Western Music, Vol. 2, 8th. ed. W.W. Norton, 2019 (NAWM)
    • NAWM 129-131, pp. 323-393
  • Forbes, Elliott, ed. “Heiligenstadt Testament.” Thayer’s Life of Beethoven, Vol. 2. Princeton University Press, 1964, pp. 303-306 (RESERVE)
  • Wingell, Richard J. Ch. 6, “Other Kinds of Writing Projects: Essay Examinations.” Writing About Music: An Introductory Guide, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, 2002, pp. 97-101 (RESERVE)
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I. Group Presentation Two
Beethoven & Early Romantics

For detailed instructions and guidelines for all group presentations this spring, go to the Group Presentations Guidelines webpage. Visit this page for information on presentation format, what to turn in, bibliography, and other useful items.

Here are the five pieces from NAWM (Norton Anthology of Western Music) for the Encounter 2 group presentations.

  • Group I—NAWM 131a, Beethoven, String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132, Movement III. “Heiliger Dankgesang”—Monday, February 22
  • Group II—NAWM 132, Schubert, Gretchen am Spinnrade—Monday, March 1
  • Group III—NAWM 146, Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, Movement V. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath—Friday, March 5
  • Group IV—NAWM 149, Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Act I, No. 7. “Una voce poco fa”—Wednesday, March 3
  • Group V—NAWM 136a & b, Schumann, Carnaval, “Eusebius” & “Florestan”—Monday, March 8

Here are the general questions every group must answer about their work:

  • Who is the composer?
  • Where would this music be performed?
  • Who would perform it? Who would be there to listen? Who would not be there?
  • Who would benefit or profit from the performance?
  • What function would this work serve in the performance context?
  • What is the genre?
    • Which features of your piece are typical of that genre?
  • How are these works typical of early Romantic style? Are there any echoes of late Classic style in your work?
    • What features are unusual or unique to your work?
  • Which two or three elements of music are most important in each major section of your work?
    • Melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, texture, color (timbre), form, and/or text setting?
    • Describe how those most essential elements are used.
  • What is the key of your work?
  • Describe the form (sections, phrase relationships, and so on).
    • For your close analysis, include an analytical chart in your Powerpoint that shows each major section. Identify the key and measure numbers for each major section. Browse through NAWM for examples of charts you can use as models.
  • If there are words or a program, identify specific techniques used to depict or express the story.
  • What performances practices would be used in singing and/or playing this piece?

Here are the specific questions for each individual group:

  • Group I—Beethoven, String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132, III—In what ways is this a typical from Beethoven’s Third Maturity? In what ways is it not, if any? How do Beethoven’s late works differ from the works of his first two periods? Are there any features typical of early Romanticism here?
  • Group II—Schubert, “Gretchen am Spinnrade”—In reading the poem and analyzing its structure, what kind of musical expression would be most appropriate? Does the poem seem to call for a strophic or a through-composed setting? What is the actual form of this Lied? Strophic? Through-composed? Something in between (modified strophic?)? What is the significance of this poem by Goethe? What larger story does it come from? How does Schubert express the images in the poem?
  • Group III—Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, V. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath—How does this instrumental work by Berlioz compare with Beethoven in its musical style and use of form? What makes this Berlioz symphony an example of program music? What links do you hear between the music and the program Berlioz provided for this movement? How do you describe the form? Is the form even relevant to understanding what happens in this movement? Explain. What is the role of the idée fixe in organizing this movement and linking it with the other movements of this symphony? What is new, weird, or striking about Berlioz’s use of the orchestra? What is the back-story that inspired the composition of this work?
  • Group IV—Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia, “Una voce poco fa”—What is the story in this opera? What is happening in this scene? How does Rossini use the music, voice, and orchestra to tell the story? Which is most important here: music, voice, or orchestra (consider specific musical elements such as melody, accompaniment, tempo, texture, vocal or instrumental effects, and so on)? What makes this aria a cavatina? In describing the form, where do you find the Cantabile and Cabaletta sections? What makes this a bel canto opera?
  • Group V—Schumann, Carnaval, “Eusebius” & “Florestan”—Two of the short character pieces in Carnaval are based on Schumann’s alter egos, Eusebius and Florestan. What role do Eusebius and Florestan play in Schumann’s career as a music critic? Describe the personality of each one. What musical elements does Schumann use to express those very different personalities? In the world of Romantic piano music, what is a character piece? How are the forms of these two works typical of character pieces? Tell us about the ASCH - SCHA motives that Schumann uses to link the movements of this piano cycle.
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II. Final Paper Preparation

Assemble a preliminary bibliography for any one (or all) of the paper topics you described in Encounter 1. If you have difficulty finding material on any topic, that might be a good reason to drop the topic (but not always!). Turn in a complete list of all books and other sources that you found so far. Much more will be required for your final bibliography, but for now make sure you include at least these items:

  • one dictionary/encyclopedia article (Oxford Music Online, specifically Grove Music Online, required)
  • two articles from scholarly journal and periodicals (no reviews, please!)
  • a print biography for the composer(s) or artist(s) you will focus on
  • a print period history appropriate to the time period you will focus on (books on the music of a specific era—i.e., Music in the Classical Era, 20th Century Music, etc.)
  • two additional books (print sources!) dealing with your topic as specifically as possible
  • scores and/or recordings, if appropriate to your topic

Your preliminary bibliography must be in MLA format, organized alphabetically by last name of author. (N.B.: A stack of printouts from a library catalog or database search is not a bibliography!) Click here for more information about the paper.

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Listening Assignment 2

Beethoven

Notes on the Classicism Unit Exam

The scores/listening section on the Classicism Unit Exam will consist of several score excerpts drawn from Listening Assignments for Encounter 1 and Encounter 2. All works on the Listening List below are fair game. Recordings are from NRAWM unless otherwise noted. For each Encounter 2 work on the test you will identify the following:
  • Composer, title, and movement
  • Genre—solo sonata? string quartet? symphony?
  • Form—fugue? sonata form? other?
  • Style—Early Beethoven, Middle Beethoven, or Late Beethoven?
  • Other important features as requested in questions drawn from Study Questions described above

Given the importance of sonata form in several of the examples below, please click here to consult the Classic Sonata Form Listening Guide from Encounter 1 as a guide to your listening.

NOTE: To prepare for the major essay on the Unit I Exam, read the section on “Essay Examinations” from Chapter 6 of Wingell’s Writing about Music (RESERVE, pp. 97-101). This short excerpt offers valuable pointers on writing a good essay. In this case, the audience is your instructor and the writing style, though informal, should still be concise and informative, i.e., chock full of relevant facts and perceptive observations.

Study Questions

The best way to do well on quizzes, exams, and other assignments in this course is to know the assigned listening well. Listen to each work below as often as you can, study the scores, and learn what the NAWM notes say about each one. For each work you want to be able to answer the following Study Questions:

  • What is the genre?
  • What is its form?
  • What is the name of the style in which it is written? (For this encounter, your choices will be early, middle, or late Beethoven)
  • How does the composer use the elements of music? What features of the work are typical of the style? What features are not?
    • To answer this, look at the ways the composer uses melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, texture, color (timbre), form, text setting, and so on
  • How does the work compare with other works in the listening assignment (especially those in the same genre)?
  • What features of the work are unique or unusual?

In some cases, additional Study Questions below will draw attention to particularly interesting, unique features of particular works. These Study Questions and recordings together will help you prepare for the Classicism Unit Exam. They require no written report.

Encounter 2 Listening List

Before you listen, do the Burkholder readings above to familiarize yourself with Beethoven, his works, significant style features of his early, middle, and late “maturities,” and the ways he transforms late Classical forms and genres. Challenge yourself to identify musical features described in these sources as you listen. The listening materials below will give you practice recognizing these works, genres, forms, and their style features. As always, you really want to read the NAWM notes and follow the score for every work from NAWM.

A. Beethoven—First period (1792-1802)

A) NAWM 129—Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, “Pathétique” (Piano Sonata)

  • mvmt. i: Grave—Allegro di molto e con brio (sonata form)
  • Alternate Recording: Blackboard Assignment Resources module—Encounter Listening—Encounter 2—Beethoven Pathétique Sonata
  • Alternate Recording:VIDEO 784.183 B415b—Barenboim on Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas Live from Berlin DVD set—Disc 3, Concert 2

Study Questions on A:

  • Use the NAWM 129 analytical chart for this movement as you listen to guide you in hearing features of sonata form.

B. Beethoven—Second period (1802-1814)

B) NAWM 130—Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (Eroica), Op. 55 (Symphony)

  • mvmt. i: Allegro con brio (sonata form)
  • Alternate Recording:VIDEO 748.2184 B415—The Beethoven Symphonies DVD set, Vol. 1

Study Questions on B:

  • Before you listen to the first movement, read through the NAWM notes immediately following the score. Label your score using the themes and measure numbers discussed on the first two pages of the NAWM notes. In further discussion of this movement and Beethoven’s sketch materials, however, Burkholder points out that some aspects of the form are debatable. For instance, where exactly does the transition (bridge) begin and end, and where does the second theme begin? About halfway through the NAWM notes, Burkholder spells out some alternate interpretations, one with a really long transition and the other with a long cluster of themes that make up Theme 2. What do you think of the “symphony as drama” concept? Can you view the main theme as a protagonist?

C. Beethoven—Third period (1815-1827)

C1) Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven the Revolutionary: Symphony No. 9 CD—RESERVE MCD B415/125g

  • Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 in D Minor (Choral), Op. 125
    • mvmt. iv: Presto—“O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!”—Allegro assai—tracks 4-5
  • Alternate Recording: Blackboard Assignment Resources module—Encounter Listening—Encounter 2—Beethoven’s Ninth
  • Alternate Recording:VIDEO 748.2184 B415—The Beethoven Symphonies DVD set, Vol. 1

C2) NAWM 131—Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132

  • mvmt. iii: Molto Adagio (Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart)—Andante (Neue Kraft fühlend) (ABA’B’A” form)
  • mvmt. iv: Alla Marcia, assai vivace—Più allegro (binary form and “recitative”)
  • mvmt. v: Allegro appassionato (sonata rondo form)
  • Alternate Recording:VIDEO 780.92 A326 v.2—Beethoven Quartets DVD set, Vol. 2

Study Questions on Group C:

  • One possible interpretation of the form of the Finale from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony can be found on pp. 578 of your textbook (the bullet points). Can you give a name to the form of this movement? Why or why not? In what ways does it address universal issues of humanity? Did Beethoven succeed in his mission to “strive toward the inaccessible goal toward which art and nature have set us” (1797 letter)? Explain.
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Quick Guide to Major Works of Beethoven’s Three Style Periods


 First Maturity
1792-1802		 Second Maturity
1802-1814		 Third Maturity
1815-1827
Style Features
 Mastery
Masters and expands on late-Classical forms, harmonies, and style		 Heroic
Innovative, dramatic works that stretch the boundaries of late-Classical style & forms		 Introspective
Focus on variations, fugues, unusual movement formats & blurred boundaries. Often dramatic, but new serenity in slow movements.
Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-20 Nos. 21-27 Nos. 28-32
String Quartets Op. 18 (nos. 1-6) Opp. 59 (nos. 1-3), 74, 95 Opp. 127, 130-133, 135
Symphonies Nos. 1-2 Nos. 3-8 No. 9

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Extra Credit Listening—

Buehler Library RESERVE
  • VIDEO 784.183 B415b—Barenboim on Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas Live from Berlin
  • VIDEO 780.92 A326 v.1—Beethoven Quartets, Vol. 1 [ABQ, Vol. 1] (Alban Berg Quartet)
  • VIDEO 780.92 A326 v.2—Beethoven Quartets, Vol. 2 (Alban Berg Quartet)
  • VIDEO 748.2184 B415—The Beethoven Symphonies (Abbado)
  • VIDEO 780.92 B415e —Beethoven’s Eroica (Tilson Thomas)
  • VIDEO 784.262 B415c —The Complete Piano Concertos (Perahia)
  • VIDEO 780.92 B415ee —Eroica (Gardiner)
  • VIDEO 782.1 F451 —Fidelio (Bernstein)
  • VIDEO 780.92 B415i —In Search of Beethoven (documentary)
  • VIDEO 782.323 B415m —Missa solemnis, Op. 125 (Karajan)
  • VIDEO 786.2 B415p —Piotr Anderszewski plays the Diabelli Variations (Anderszewski)
  • MCD B415/90—Beethoven, The Late Piano Sonatas (Brendel)
  • MCD B415/51—The Young Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 8 and 14, etc. (Kipnis)
  • MCD B415/21g—Beethoven, Complete Symphonies (Gardiner)
  • MCD B415/125g—Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 (Gardiner)
  • MCD B415/62—Beethoven, Overtures (Harnoncourt)
  • MCD B415/105m—Beethoven, Variations & Bagatelles (Mustonen)
  • MCD B415/18—Beethoven, The Early String Quartets (Tokyo String Quartet)
  • MCD B415/59t—Beethoven, The Middle String Quartets (Tokyo String Quartet)
  • MCD 415/127—Beethoven, The Late String Quartets (Tokyo String Quartet)
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Created 1/31/21 by Mark Harbold—last updated 3/04/21