Genres and periods of music development. Учебно-методическое пособие для студентов музыкальных вузов

Tasks to the text

I.General understanding.Answer the questions:

1.In what countries and when did fantasias appear?

2.Were fantasias essentially instrumental musical works similar to harpsichord preludes?

3.In favour of what genre did the Italian masters abandon fantasias?

4.Who was much interested in this imprecise form?

5.How did the classical style transform fantasias?

6.What was the attitude of romantic composers to fantasias?

7.What composers episodically revived the form in the 20th century?

II.Semantic analysis

1.Read the text and highlight the semantic parts of the text.

2.Title each part.

3.Find the key words in each part.

4.Write down the plan of the text.

III.Speaking practice

1.Outline the text using the plan.

2.Support your oral report by a presentation in Power Point.

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UNIT 13

Concerti Grossi Pre-reading activities

I. Say what part of speech the following words belong to and translate them: perfectly, notably, simply, principally, independently, equally, fairly, probably

II. State the function of Participle I and Participle II and translate the phrases:

the first group constituting solo instruments, the second bringing together the full orchestra, his concerti published in 1712, the string orchestra used by Corelli, the formula of triple or double concertos tried by Beethoven or Brahms

III. Change Passive Voice intoActive Voice andActive into

Passive:

1.  Corelli is considered to be its inventor. 2.  Concertos were played with considerable instrumental strength. 3.  Bach renovated the form of Concerto Grosso. 4.  The Concert Grosso adopted the pre-classical division into three movements. 5.  The formula of triple or double concertos was derived from Concerto Grosso. 6.  He exhibited a large variety of solo instruments in his choice. 7.  The solo concerto was probably derived from Concerto Grosso.

Read and translate the text

The musical form of Concerto Grosso consists in the contrast of two unequal sonorous groups. The first, constituting solo instruments, is the concertino, or “small concert”; the second, bringing together the full orchestra, is the ripieno, sometimes more simply called “grosso”.

While this form seems to have been inaugurated in 1674 by the German Schmelzer, it was the Italian Gregori who was the first to use the title “Concerto Grosso” in 1698. Yet Stradella (1644– 1682), Corelli (1653–1713), Muffat (1653–1704) and Torelli (1658–1709) were the principal initiators of this form, and Corelli is even considered to be its inventor for having been the first to perfectly master the form with Twelve Concerti Grossi for Strings opus 6, published in 1712.

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In the beginning, the Concerti Grossi, such as those by Corelli, hovered between the old form of the Church Sonata, with its four movements “slow-fast-slow-fast”, and that of the series of French dances which contained most often a free plan of four to six movements. Under the influence, notably, of concertos for a solo instrument by Vivaldi, the Concerto Grosso adopted the pre-classic division into three movements “fast-slow-fast”, and spread, in this form, throughout Europe.

In 1721, with his Brandenburg Concertos BWV 1046–1051, J. S. Bach renovated­ the form of the Concerto Grosso, by the large variety which he exhibited in his choice of solo instruments which, before him, had been principally limited to strings. G. F. Handel, on the other hand, seemed to be more traditional, as his Twelve Concerti Grossi opus 6 published in 1739, went back to both the free plan and the string orchestra used by Corelli.

Independently of these characteristics, the form of the Concerto Grosso, as Nikolaus Harnoncourt remarked, depends equally on the possibilities and conditions of execution. Furthermore, Corelli’s concertos were played with a fairly considerable instrumental strength; and Handel’s required, in order that the alternating play between concertino and ripieno worked well, a spatial separation of soloists. In other words: for many generations the Concerto Grosso meant both a certain genre of instrumental music and the manner of execution that corresponded.

From1750theConcertoGrossogavewaytothesoloconcerto, but the 19th-century formula of the triple or double concertos — for piano, violin and cello; or violin and cello — as tried by Beethoven or Brahms, was very probably derived from the Concerto Grosso.

In the 20th century, the Concerto Grosso reappeared in the form of the orchestral concerto, where each instrument may be solo. The best attempt of this type is, without a doubt, that of Bela Bartok (Concerto for Orchestra, 1943).

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Tasks to the text

I.General understanding.Answer the questions:

1.When did the form appear?

2.Who was the first to use the title?

3.Who were the principal initiators of the form?

4.How did Bach renovate Concerto Grosso in his Brandenburg Concertos?

5.How did Handel’s Twelve Concerti Grossi opus 6 differ from Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos?

6.Does the Concerto Grosso mean a certain genre of instrumental music or a corresponding manner of execution?

7.What musical genre was probably derived from the Concerto Grosso?

8.In what form did the Concerto Grosso reappear in the 20th century?

II.Semantic analysis

1.Read the text and highlight the semantic parts of the text.

2.Title each part.

3.Find the key words in each part.

4.Write down the plan of the text.

III.Speaking practice

1.Outline the text using the plan.

2.Support your oral report by a presentation in Power Point.

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UNIT 14

Dance Pre-reading activities

I. Say what part of speech the following words belong to and translate them: gradually, successfully, choreographically

II. Make up sentences negative and interrogative:

1.  The word “dance” describes the activity of the body in movement in accordance with the music. 2.  The basse-danse was the first major dance of the Renaissance. 3.  The accompaniment was adapted to the steps invented by the dancers. 4.  The waltz appeared in the 18th century. 5.  Many composers had used the form earlier. 6.  Diverse composers have been able to integrate it to different works. 7.  Polonaise and mazurka are triple time dances of Polish origin.

III. Change Passive Voice intoActive Voice:

1.  The music was adapted to the steps. 2.  Bourree was used by many composers. 3.  The waltz was integrated into different works. 4.  Polonaises were written by many composers. 5.  Apiece based on the mazurka was written by Chopin. 6.  At the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries new dances were produced mainly in the United States.

Read and translate the text

The word dance describes the activity of a body in movement in accordance with certain rhythmic principles and the music which accompanies these movements. This practice takes different forms according to social and historical evolutions: thus we find peasant dances as well as court dances. Furthermore, specific dance music gradually gets taken over by individual composers which makes the form more complex and causes it to lose its primary function of accompaniment which gives way to concert pieces that are only inspired by dance rhythm.

The basse-danse was the first major dance of the Renaissance: the music which acted as the accompaniment was adapted to the steps invented by the dancers. Next came the gaillard, a popular dance, the pavane which was a Court dance, and to name just a few

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others; the courante, the minuet, the bourree which was used by many composers, including Lully and Bach.

The waltz appeared during the 18th century and derived from German peasant dances and Austrian Ländler. In the 19th century, in Vienna, this dance of three movements triumphed with Johann Strauss (the Elder and Younger) in pieces such as The Champagne Waltz and The Blue Danube. However many composers had used the form earlier: Schubert (piano dances), Weber (Invitation to Waltz), andofcourse,Chopinwith19waltzesforpiano.Thewaltzisperhaps the only dance to have successfully incorporated both popular and erudite music. For, as Michel Chion noted, it “has the particularity of being a dance capable of adaptation to complex and baroque styles, all the while conserving its fundamental dance characteristics”. This is why such diverse composers have been able to integrate it into very different works: symphonic pieces, ballets and operas. It also explains how the waltz can be both a piece of music without pretension and a very sophisticated piece, or can even lend itself to a consequential musical effort, as in the cases of Liszt, Ravel and Schönberg.

Already widespread by the 18th century, but most celebrated in the romantic era, the polonaise and the mazurka are triple time dances of Polish origin. The first is a Court dance and the second, choreographically very complex, a folk dance. Telemann and Bach, Chopin and Liszt, among many others, wrote polonaises but it was really only Chopin who wrote a piece based on the mazurka, giving it an original harmonic colour which was reflected in Wagner.

The polka, a Czech dance in double time which was also very famous, never went beyond the status of music for amusement.

From the 19th century, and at the beginning of the 20th, it was principally the other side of the Atlantic that produced new dances. The United States of America, as a place of ethnic convergence, favoured the advent of new dance forms: ragtime, the foxtrot, the Charleston, the boogie-woogie... And Latin America saw the emergence of the tango, the samba, etc.

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Some 20th-century composers seized upon these dances to integrate them into their works. Stravinsky was the composer most aware of these new rhythms, as can be seen in his Ragtime for eleven instruments (1918) and his Tango for piano (1940, orchestrated in 1953).

Tasks to the text

I.General understanding.Answer the questions:

1.What does the word “dance” mean?

2.What was the primary function of a dance?

3.What dances were popular in the Renaissance?

4.When did the waltz appear?

5.What composers wrote dances?

6.What triple time dances of Polish origin were widespread in the 18th century?

7.Is Polka a Czech or Polish dance?

8.What new dances appeared in the North and SouthAmerica at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century?

II.Semantic analysis

1.Read the text and highlight the semantic parts of the text.

2.Title each part.

3.Find the key words in each part.

4.Write down the plan of the text.

III.Speaking practice

1.Outline the text using the plan.

2.Support your oral report by a presentation in Power Point.

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UNIT 15

Etude Pre-reading activities

I.Saywhatpartofspeechthefollowingwordsbelongtoand translate them: generally, particularly, usually, finally, respectively, recently, highly, notably, primarily

II.State the function of Participle I and II. Translate the following word combinations:

1.didactic pieces generally intended for solo instruments and put together in a collection;

2.problems associated with these instruments;

3.series of etudes written by these three men;

4.Scriabin’s 24 Etudes (opus 8, 42 and 65) composed respectively in 1895, 1904 and 1912;

5.the last etude written for the piano;

6.the series of sequenzas for an unaccompanied instrument composed by Luciano Berio;

7.the last important collection published under the title of etudes;

8.it is worth mentioning;

9.associated with the learning;

10.a new method of playing.

III.TranslateexampleswiththePassiveVoiceconstructions:

1.  Etudesareintendedforsoloinstruments;2.  Well-Tempered

Klavier is associated with the learning of the musical language; 3.  The virtuoso stylistic innovations are made to the detriment of the ensemble structure; 4.  The title etude was not given to a musical piece until the 19th century.

IV. Translate the word combinations, pay attention to the prepositions of Genitive, Dative and Instrumental cases of nouns:

1.a point of exploring;

2.display similarity to Debussy’s etudes;

3.a technical problem of instrumental execution;

4.the principal of didactic compilations;

5.pieces by Telemann;

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6.the development of compilations of etudes;

7.was given to a musical piece;

8.exploration of specific problems;

9.proliferations of compilations of piano etudes;

10.works allied to etudes;

11.the series of etudes;

12.the beginning of the 20th century;

13.manifestation of the genre;

14.the title etude applied to electro-acoustic works;

15.created by leading composers.

Read and translate the text

Etudes are didactic pieces generally intended for solo instruments, particularly the piano. Quite short, and usually put together in a collection, etudes make a point of exploring a technical problem of instrumental execution or of style.

Although the title etude was not given to a musical piece until the 19th century, the principle of didactic compilations had emerged much earlier. In this regard it is worth mentioning, in England: Lessons, by Purcell (1659–1695) and by Handel (1685–1759), in Italy: Sonates by Domenico Scarlatti (1685– 1757) published as “Essercizi” (exercises). Certain pedagogical pieces by Tele-mann (1681–1767) excepted, the German didactic collection par excellence is the Well-Tempered Klavier byJ.S.Bach(1685–1750),eventhoughitismuchmoreassociated with the learning of particularities of a musical language than with their execution, questions of touch or instrumental technique. Finally, some works by French harpsichordists, such as F. Couperin (1668–1733) and J. P. Rameau (1683–1764) can be allied to this didactic genre as they demand a new method of playing.

In the 19th century the emergence of great piano virtuosos (Liszt, Hummel) as well as violin virtuosos (Paganini) favoured the development of compilations of etudes and the exploration of specific problems associated with these instruments: “scales, arpeggios, trills, thirds, octaves, parallel chords, etc., for the piano, double strings and rapid passages for the violin” (Michel

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Chion). However, the virtuoso stylistic innovations are primarily punctilious and are often made to the detriment of the ensemble structure which remains simple. The 19th century saw the proliferation of compilations of piano etudes (J. B. Cramer Etudes in 42 exercises, (1804—1810), Clementi, Gradus ad Parnassum

(1817–1826), Czerny, Moscheles, Hummel, etc.), but it was not until Chopin, Schumann and Liszt came on the scene that the etude went beyond its teaching role and became a fully-fledged concert piece. Among the series of etudes written by these three men it is necessary to mention: Chopin's 24 Etudes, opus 10 and 25 (1833, 1837), Schumann's Etudes Symphoniques for piano opus 13 (1837) and Liszt's 12 Etudes d'execution transcendante

(1851).

Although the etude survived until the beginning of the 20th century with, notably, Scriabin's 24 Etudes (opus 8, 42 and 65, composed, respectively, in 1895, 1904 and 1912), the last important collection published under the title of etude was Debussy's, whose 12 Etudes for the piano (1916) prolonged and renovated the genre.

Displaying a certain similarity to Debussy's etudes, the QuatreEtudesdurhythme (1949)byOlivierMessiaencountamong the last etudes written for the piano. More recently, the title etude has more and more been applied to electro-acoustic works (Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Karlheinz Stockhausen...). Finally, the series of sequenzas for an unaccompanied instrument, composed by Luciano Berio in 1958 may be considered, for now, to be the last, highly successful, manifestation of this genre.

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