the viennese classical concerto

THE VIENNESE
CLASSICAL CONCERTO
The Enlightenment in Tone
When the talent-mind of the artist exists
and has the conditions to express itself, it
seems to develop with great speed and
daunting ease.
— Clive James
CULTIVATING A GARDEN
The arts flourish when the environment encourages them to
grow.
If a life in the arts promises advancement and fulfillment —
even if it poses challenges and difficulties — the artists will
arise.
Bill Atkinson, 1970s
Andy Herzfeld
Maria Theresa
Joseph II
Voltaire (1694–1778)
Rousseau (1712–1778)
Holywell Music Room
Oxford
Built 1748
Leopold Hofmann
Samuel Wesley
Adalbert Gyrowetz
Josef Myslivecek
Johann Baptist Vanhal
Antonio Rosetti
Ignace Joseph Pleyel
Vacslav Pichl
Karl von Ordoñez
Franz Xavier Richter
Pieter van Maldere
Franz Krommer
Christian Cannabich
William Boyce
Jiri Benda
Franz Ignaz Beck
Carlos Baguer
Carl Friedrich Abel
Joseph Martin Kraus
Leopold Kozeluch
Karel Kohout
William Herschel
François-Joseph Gossec
Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf
Muzio Clementi
THE EARLY STYLE
The Viennese Classical style required time to grow and develop:
it did not spring directly into full maturity.
The earlier composers are not well remembered today, but they
laid the foundations for Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven to come:
Georg Matthias Monn
Christoph Wagenseil
Ignaz Holzbauer
Johann Fux
Fux: 1660 - 1741
Holzbauer: 1711 - 1783
Wagenseil: 1715 - 1777
Monn: 1717 - 1750
Haydn: 1732 - 1809
Mozart: 1756 - 1791
GEORG CHRISTOPH WAGENSEIL
Harp Concerto in G Minor: I
WAGENSEIL
1715–1777
From 1749 to his death he was the
court composer to the Hapsburgs
in Vienna.
Among his students were Marie
Antoinette, Franz Xavier Dussek,
and Leopold Hoffman.
Mozart & Haydn knew his music
well.
THE CONCERTO
It’s in double-exposition sonata form.
However, the themes are not as clearly delineated as they
might be in a later concerto.
Exposition #1: Orchestra
Primary
Transition
Exposition #2: Solo
Secondary
G Major
Transition
Primary
G Major
D Major
Development
Secondary
D Major
Primary
Free
Secondary
Retransition
E Minor
Recapitulation
Primary
G Major
Transition
Secondary
Secondary
Coda
HAYDN’S CONCERTOS
Many date from his earlier years in Esterházy employ—the
early to mid 1760s.
Haydn was never as enthusiastic of a concerto writer as his
younger colleague Mozart.
However, he left posterity with a number of superb
examples of the Viennese Classical concerto at its fullest
maturity.
CONCERTOS
Strings: Violin and Cello
Winds: Flute, Flute & Oboe, Oboe, Horn
Piano (Clavier) and Organ
Lira organizzata, an oddball string-wind hurdy-gurdy hybrid,
a favorite instrument of the King of Naples, for whom
Haydn wrote the concertos and other works.
CELLO CONCERTO IN D, H VIIB:2: II
(1783)
Jean-Guihen Queyras / Petra Mullejans / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
CLASSICAL FORM
Classical form is reduplicative: smaller structures are then
used to build larger structures.
Two primary building blocks:
The period (two parts)
The three-part form (three parts)
A Classical Period
Antecedent
4 measures
,
Consequent
4 measures
.
The Antecedent
1
œ™ œ œ
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J ‰
œ™ œ œ
J ‰
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
3
œ ‰
J
The Antecedent
1
œ™ œ œ
? ### 24
J ‰
1
œ™ œ œ
J ‰
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
3
œ ‰
J
The Antecedent
1
œ™ œ œ
? ### 24
J ‰
1
œ™ œ œ
J ‰
2
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
3
œ ‰
J
The Antecedent
1
œ™ œ œ
? ### 24
J ‰
1
œ™ œ œ
J ‰
2
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
3
œ ‰
J
The Consequent
œ
? ### 24
1
1
2
œ œœœœ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œr œ
#œ
nœ
3
3
œ
Œ
Three-Part Song Form
Part 1: Period
Antecedent
,
Consequent
Part 2: Two Phrases
,
Part 3 = Part 1 Repeated
Antecedent
,
Consequent
First Rondo, a.k.a. Slow-Movement Ternary
Reprise: Three-Part Song Form
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Excursion: Period or other phrase structure
Reprise: Three-Part Song Form
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
D MAJOR CELLO CONCERTO
Haydn’s use of slow-movement ternary form is absolutely
Classical.
However, he will use extended phrases—i.e., longer than
expected—in order to avoid a static structure, and also to
point up the most important points in the movement.
Phrases that lead into an important return are often
extended, sometimes just a little, and sometimes a lot.
Reprise
Excursion
Reprise
Ant
Cons
1
Ant
2
Ant
Cadenza
Cons
Close
Cons
Ant
Cons
TRUMPET CONCERTO IN E-FLAT, H. VIIE:1
Wynton Marsalis / Raymond Leppard / National Philharmonic Orchestra
THE CONCERTO
A late Haydn concerto, written in 1796 for his friend, the
virtuoso Anton Weidinger.
The original instrument was a “keyed” trumpet, although
nowadays the piece is usually played in a modern valved
trumpet and in E-flat major instead of the original E Major.
The last movement is in classical Rondo form—albeit with
some sonata-form aspects—and displays Haydn’s late art in
full flower, as he extracts maximum effectiveness out of a
few basic ideas.
Orchestral Exposition
Primary
Primary+Trans
Reprise
Primary
Primary
Transition
Excursion 1
Secondary
Closing
Reprise
Primary
Primary+Trans
Excursion 2
Primary
Transition
Reprise
Coda
Primary
Secondary
1: Primary
2: Closing
Secondary
MOZART’S CONCERTOS
27 Piano Concertos
5 Violin Concertos
4-ish Horn Concertos
Misc: Bassoon, 2 Flute, Clarinet, Flute & Harp
2 Sinfonias Concertante
DOUBLE-EXPOSITION FORM
In Mozart’s mature concertos, the double-exposition form is
heard at its peak of development.
Exposition 1 (Orchestra)
P
S1
Closing
Exposition 2 (Solo)
P
T1
Tonic Key
Secondary Key
Recapitulation
Tonic Key
Closing
Secondary Key
Development
P
S2
S1 & 2
Cadenza
Closing
PIANO CONCERTO IN A MAJOR, K. 488
Murray Perahia / English Chamber Orchestra
THEMATIC MATERIALS
T1
Theme 1, “Primary” theme of sonata form
THEMATIC MATERIALS
Rs
Orchestral “response” theme
THEMATIC MATERIALS
T2
Theme 2, “Secondary” theme of sonata form
THEMATIC MATERIALS
Dp
“Deflection passage”, moves to minor mode
THEMATIC MATERIALS
Tn
New Theme, acts like another secondary theme
THEMATIC MATERIALS
Cd
Cadential theme, just as in sonata form
T1
Rs
T2
Dp
Cd
T
T1
Rs
S
T
Br
T2
Dp
Solo
S
Tn
S
T
S
T
S
T
S
T
T1
T1
Rs
Br
T2
Dp
Tn
Rs
Tn
T
S
T
S
Cz
S
Rs
Cd
T
Tn
S
Cz
T
T
Tn
T
Rtr
S
Rs
Ed
SYMPHONIC CONCEPTION
As Mozart’s conception of the solo concerto evolved,
increasingly he came to think of the genre as being a
symphony with a soloist.
The elevated nature of the symphony began finding its way
into the relatively lighter-weight environment of the
concerto.
The opening orchestral exposition became something truly
remarkable, worth hearing just for its own sake, no matter
that a soloist was waiting to enter.
PIANO CONCERTO IN D MINOR, K. 466
Not only is the orchestral exposition rich and varied, but
the piano solo makes and entrance as part of the orchestra,
rather than establishing itself as the “star.”
PIANO CONCERTO IN D MINOR, K. 466: I
Clifford Curzon / Benajmin Britten / English Chamber Orchestra
CLARINET CONCERTO IN A, K. 622
Karl Leister / Neville Marriner / Academy of St. Martins in the Fields
THE CONCERTO
Written in 1791 for Mozart’s friend Anton Stadler.
Mozart’s last completed instrumental composition.
The second movement is in First Rondo (Slow Movement
Ternary) form.