Third Movement In The Classical Sonata example essay topic

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791) Austrian born, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was regarded to be the greatest child prodigy the world has ever known. At age four, he heard his older sister playing a harpsichord minuet. Mozart begged his father to let him try the piece, and by ear, he played the piece perfectly. Throughout his life, tragedy struck.

He was one of the most talented composers ever to walk the face of the earth, yet he led a life filled with much unhappiness. Upon traveling to Italy, Mozart fell in love with the Italian opera. One of his most famous peas is The Escape from the Seraglio, in which the heroine was named after his wife Constance. Although many of the people in Vienna greatly praised this opera, Mozart's patron, Emperor Joseph, was not a fan of the style.

Even though Mozart had his streaks of bad luck and his family was often in debt, his marriage to Co stanze held many moments of happiness. On Sunday mornings, Haydn and two other musician friends from Vienna would show up at Mozart's residence and would play string quartets. Haydn is quoted as telling Mozart's father, 'I declare to you upon my honor that I consider your son the greatest composer that I have ever heard (Kaufmann, 67). ' Mozart composed many operas of which his most loved are The Marra ige of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi Fan Tutte.

His last opera, The Magic Flute, has charm and intelligence, even though it was written when he was sick and depressed. Ironically, during the same year that he wrote his last opera, a stranger approached Mozart and asked him to write a Requiem Mass. Although the stranger's motives and identity were unclear, Mozart began writing the Requiem Mass that was requested. When it was half finished, Mozart's sickness took a turn for the worse, and he died.

The Requiem Mass would be his last composition. When he died the piece included (including Requeim Aeternam, Kyrie Ellison, Dies I rae, and Confutatis, Lacrimosa. Although he only lived to age 35, Mozart is regarded as a prominent musical genius. Basso continuo, or figured bass, was purely an instrumental concept. It is music that is played by one or more bass instruments and a keyboard instrument. Basso continuo gave bass parts an importance of their own in all areas of ensemble music.

It is one of the most distinct features of the Baroque Era as a whole. The third movement in the classical sonata was called the or minuet. It was written in a moderately fast tempo, played in the tonic key, and was written in three-four. The minuet had three sections: minuet, trio, and a repeat of the minuet. In a sonata with three movements, the minuet was left out or omitted. In some of Haydn and in most of Beethoven's works in sonata form, the third movement was called a scherzo.

It utilized the same aspects of the minuet, but was more humorous in nature. Sometimes the two middle movements were reversed, so that the minuet came second and the slow movement third. In a three movement composition, the minuet or scherzo was omitted. At the end of the 1500's, a group of Florentine noblemen wanted to bring back ancient Greek tragedy. Calling themselves the Camera ta, they created the still, or theater style.

This was a new style of singing of drama, and, consequently, became the earliest operas. This new form of music developed because composers of the polyphonic madrigal style were looking for ways to convey dramatic expression. This new 'theater style' became prevalent and was used consistently in opera. The Classical Era 1750-1820 The Classical Era lasted for only 70 years, there was a significant changes in music that was being produced.

Classical music placed a greater stress on clarity with regard to melodic expression and instrumental color. Although opera and vocal music were still being written, orchestral literature was performed on a much broader basis. The orchestra gained more color and flexibility as clarinets, flutes, oboes, and bassoons became permanent members of the orchestra. The classical style was dominated by homophony, which consisted of a single melodic line and an accompaniment. New forms of composition were developed to adapt to this style. The most important of these forms was the sonata which was in instrumental music.

This form continued to change and evolve throughout the classical period, and it is important to note that the classical sonata was very different from the sonatas written by Baroque composers. The early 1700's reflected a musical style known as Rococo. This style served as a transition from the Baroque to the Classical Era. Rococo, which developed in France, is actually an art term that described a new art style which was both a light and embellished. Musically speaking, it is referred to as style gallant. In Germany, after 1750, the style gallant became still.

With this change in name came an added element of expressiveness and sentimentality. As classical music evolved, distinctive characteristics developed. Changes in form were seen along with changes in phrase structure. Shorter phrases and well defined cadences became more prevalent. During this time period, a favorite accompaniment pattern was the Alberti bass, which featured a broken chord progression.

The melodies of the Classical era were more compact and diatonic. Harmony was less structured. It used the tonic, dominant, and subdominant chords. In addition, during this period, diatonic harmony was more common then chromatic. Composers mainly used chords in triadic form and occasionally used seventh chords in their compositions. The major composers of the Classical era were Haydn, Mozart, Gluck, and Beethoven.