Study Help: Middle Ages Music

Title	Genre	Composer	Date
Haec dies	Gregorian chant	anonymous	Early Middle Ages
Haec dies	organum	anonymous	ca 1175
O mitissima/ Virgo/ Haec dies	Polytextual motet	anonymous	13th century
Ce fut en mai	Monophonic chanson	Moniot d’Arras	Mid 13th century
Puis qu’en oubli	Polyphonic chanson	Guillaume de Machaut	Mid 14th century

The Creation (sorry I didn't finnish this essay)

The Creation is an oratorio composed by Franz Joseph Haydn.  Its German title is “Die Schopfung”.  The German-language version was written and prepared by librettist Baron Gottfried van Swieten. The source of libretto comes from “The Book of Genesis” and John Milton’s epic poem, “Paradise Lost.”

In Uriel’s Recitative, “And God said: Let there be light in the firmament..” it is in recitativo secco and is sung by Uriel (tenor).

In Uriel’s other Recitative, “In splendor bright..” the key begins in D major and the tempo is Andante.

The Marriage of Figaro (Plot)

The Marriage of Figaro is composed by Mozart and librettist Ponte. The language is Italian and the overall structure is four acts. The principal characters include Figaro, the personal valet to the Count, Susanna, the personal maid to the COuntess, CHerubino, a young male page at the palace ,Count ALmaviva, the philandering husband of the Countess, and Countess Almaviva, the neglected wife of the Count.

Figaro and Susanna are servants in the household of Count Almaviva and they look forward to their wedding day. They are upset when the Count wants to abuse his power and seduce Susanna before the marriage takes place.

Dido and Aeneas (Plot)

Dido and Aeneas is a Baroque opera composed by English composer Henry Purcell and librettist Nahum Tate in 1689. The principal characters include Dido, the Queen of Carthage, Aeneas, the Trojan Prince and founder of Rome, and the Sorceress.

Aeneas, the Trojan Prince, is shipwrecked on the shore of Carthage where Dido is queen. They fall in love but Aeneas is destined to be the founder of Rome, so he must continue on his quest. Dido, overcome with grief,  kills herself in the final scene of this opera.

The Coronation of Poppea (Plot)

The Coronation of Poppea was composed by Claudio Monteverdi at the end of his career, first performed in 1642. The libretto was composed by Giovanni Busenello.  The source of plot came from an episode in Roman history. The principal characters are Nero, the Emperor of Rome, Poppea, Nero’s mistress, Ottavia, the wife of Nero, Seneca, the philosopher and advisor to Nero, and the Chorus of Consuls and Tribunes.

The Roman emperor Nero plans to depose his wife Ottavia so that he can marry his mistress, Poppea, and have her crowned empress. His philosopher, Seneca opposes to this and is put to death. The opera has psychological drama, focusing on the main characters and their emotional reactions to the situations in which they find themselves.

The Development of Sonata Cycle

Sonata cycle emerged in the Classical era and occurs in symphony, sonata, and concerto. The original meaning of sonata is to sound on a instrument from the Italian word suonare. This form is derived from rounded binary form in the early 18th century.

CPE Bach (1714-1788), son of the famous JS Bach, was surprising more famous than his father in his time. CPE Bach contributed to the development of sonata form. He established the formal structure of Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation.

The Mannheim School was a group of composers active at the court of Mannheim, Germany, in the later half of the 18th century. The leading figures included Karl Stamitz and Christian Cannabich.  They developed the orchestral crescendo and rocket theme.

Franz Joseph Haydn, often considered  as the “father of the string quartet” and “father of Classical style” due to his large contributions to them. He often used a monothematic exposition in his sonata-form movements. Haydn contributed to the development of sonata form and often included dramatic slow introductions. He is fond of using a slow introduction in the first movement.

W. A. Mozart, one of the Viennese School composers, used sonata form not only in symphony, piano concerto, chamber music, and instrumental sonata, bust also in genres such as overture to his operas as well as aria and vocal ensemble.

Beethoven’s “Piano Sonata in C minor, op 13” is a piano sonata. The exposition of the first movement is in sonata form. He also uses a slow introduction in his pieces. He developed and expanded classical forms, such as sonata and concerto.

Schubert had approaches to formal structures, for example, sonata form with repeated exposition. The phrasing structure is symmetrical, which is a Classical trademark The sonata cycle remained common through the early Romantic era.

The Development of Opera

Opera was invented in Florence, Italy, around 1600 by a group of intellectuals, poets, and musicians, also know as the Florentine Camerata. The oldest surviving opera, L’Euridice was composed by Giulio Caccini and Jacopo Peri, two of the leading members of the Florentine Camerata and was composed in 1600. “Le nuove musiche” (1602) is published by the Florentine Camerata composer, Giulio Caccini.

Moving on in the Baroque era, Claudio Monteverdi was often regarded as the first true composer of opera. Not only did he compose a great number of opera seria (tragic opera), he also increased the role of ensembles and established the love duet. He was also known as the most important composer of early Italian opera. In his famous opera, “The Coronation of Poppea”was first performed in 1642. By the time he composed “The Coronation of Poppea”, public houses had already been established in major Italian cities. His famous motto is “the text is the master, the music is the servant”.

Henry Purcell is sometimes referred to by “British Orpheus” because of his compelling lyricism in his compositions.His famous opera, “Dido and Aeneas” was originally written for a performance by the students of Josias Priest School for Girls in the London suburb of Chelsea.

Handel made an important contribution to the development of Italian opera seria and composed over forty works in this genre. Handel spends half of his life composing operas until the public grew bored of it. He was afraid that his musical career would end so he put a new genre into his music: oratorio.

The most famous master of all forms of opera is W.A. Mozart. He used all three available forms of opera in his time, opera seria, opera buffa, and singspiel. He is known for his close collaboration with his librettists Some other representative opera works by Mozart include “Don Giovanni” and “The Magic Flute.”