Classical Era The Age of Enlightenment Things are a-changin’ Baroque Era

Classical Era

• The Age of Enlightenment

Things are a-changin’

• Baroque Era

• Louis XIV, XV
• Frederick the Great
• Catherine the Great
• POWER
• WEALTH

The Enlightenment

• What’s IN?

• rational, logical, empirical, reasoned

• What’s OUT?

• Status quo, supernatural (What comes into question?)

• The “brotherhood of man” becomes a popular theme, and Freemasonry grows. Both of these are, to some degree, at odds with the principals of enlightenment thinking.

• Contradiction, inconsistency, paradox = quite acceptable, almost the norm.

The Classical Era

• European society is becoming more cosmopolitan.

The Classical Era

• “Classical,” “classic,” “classicism”= very broad terms; not particularly well suited to describe this time in history. Interest in clean, simple lines of classical Greek architecture may provide connection.

• Approximately the 18th Century

Classicism Defined

• The period of the ancient Greeks and Romans

• A standard (enduring)

• Genre of music

• Time period

The Classical Era

• Cultural, societal adolescence--much change (often violent) & growth

• Industrial revolution:
• move from agrarian to industrial economy
• migration from country to cities
• huge cities--e.g., 1800 Vienna = 250,000!!
• American and French Revolutions:
• Europe in turmoil caused by Napoleon’s expansionism after French Revolution
• redefine relationship of government and people

The Classical Era

• How is the relationship of government/aristocracy and common people redefined?

• IndIvIdual becomes central. Government exists to serve ME; I do not exist to serve government (and, no, I will NOT eat cake...).
• The American and French Revolutions illustrate the point.

The Rise of the Middle Class

• a VIMP sociological process

• industrialization produces more money for lower classes
• eventually more “wealth” produces more leisure time
• more leisure time leads to search for entertainment that produces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• fundamental changes in the arts:

• music functions mostly as Entertainment (not worship as in Baroque era)

Classical Thinking

• Reason was supreme

• Sought the perfect society

• Enlightenment

• Beauty

• Rules were valuable

Classical Period Art

Rococo

• Emphasis on ultra beauty and nature

• Less dramatic (more sweet) than Baroque

• Themes: aimed at the wealthy class

• Lighter, frivolous
• Picnics, lovers, Greek gods
• Portraits

Art in the 18th Century

• Baroque had been the style from 1600 to 1750

• Elaborate, impressive
• Show glory of church and/or state

• New direction was disputed

Jacques Louis David

• Napoleon Crossing

• the Alps

Jacques Louis David

Jacques Louis David

Sculpture and Architecture

• Horatio Greenough

• Washington

Architecture

• Recalled ancient classical

• U.S. Capital

• Monticello

Petit Trianon, Versailles, France 1764 (Louis XVI) NEO-CLASSICAL

Fragonard, The Swing, 1769

David, The Death of Socrates, 1787

Date data

Age of Enlightenment

• Literature and Philosophy

The Enlightenment

• Application of the scientific method to social problems

• Parallel to the scientific awakening

• Foundation of Classical art and music

• The world behaves according to patterns and these ought to be obeyed

Basic Premises

• Scientific method can answer fundamental questions about society

• Human race can be educated and all people are important

• Emergence of the middle class

• Belief in God based on reason

Growth of Deism

• Intellectuals believe in God but see him as a "watchmaker"

• Deists skeptical of organized religion

• Catholic church was attacked

• Deists struggle with personal standards

• Denial of providence (Voltaire) disputed by others (Pope, Rousseau)

• Denial of evil

Thomas Hobbes

• Empiricism

• "All that is real is material, and what is not material is not real." – Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes

• Government

• "[Early man was] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short... [and in a constant state of] warre, [living in] continual fear and danger of violent death.“ – Leviathan

• Absolute monarchy sent by God to help mankind
• Hobbes' concepts used to justify colonialization

John Locke

• The forefather of our forefathers

• Attacked by Charles II

• Friend of Newton

• Influential in American

• revolution

John Locke

• Government

• Second treatise of Civil Government
• Chaos without government
• God gave mankind natural rights
• Life, liberty, pursuit of property
• Innate goodness of mankind led to formation of governments
• Governments, which were formed by the people, must guarantee the rights of the people
• People have a right to rebel against tyrannies

John Locke

• Theory of Knowledge

• Essay Concerning Human Understanding
• Reasoning puts man above animals
• Rejected concept that ideas are innate
• Outer ideas from experience
• Inner ideas from contemplation
• Mankind can attain all knowledge

Alexander Pope

• English Poet

• Contributed to political thought and love of language

• Believed that God was in control of the earth and that all things were ultimately for our good

• Essay on Man

• Essay on Criticism

• Many famous sayings came from these books

“Trust not yourself; but your defects to know,

• “Trust not yourself; but your defects to know,

• Make use of every friend – and every foe.

• A little learning is a dangerous thing;”

• – Alexander Pope from Essay on Criticism

Jonathan Swift

• Hated injustice

• Politically active

• Satirist

• Gulliver’s Travels
• A Modest Proposal…

“For of what use is freedom of thought if it does not produce freedom of action?”

• “For of what use is freedom of thought if it does not produce freedom of action?”

• Swift, “On Abolishing Christianity” (1708) [Quoted in Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence, 2000, p.273]

Philosophe

• French name for philosopher

• Enlightenment reached height in France

Voltaire

• Pen name

• Critical of Catholic church

• Influenced others by letters

• Denied writings to avoid problems

• Exiled to England for a while
• Returned to live on Swiss border

“The individual who persecutes another because he is not of the same opinion is nothing less than a monster.”

• “The individual who persecutes another because he is not of the same opinion is nothing less than a monster.”

• Voltaire

“I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

• “I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

• Voltaire

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Contest: "Does progress in the arts and sciences correspond with progress in morality?"

• No!
• As civilizations progress, they move away from morality
• Examples: Romans, Greeks, Egyptians
• Civilization itself leads away from true fundamentals
• Technology and art give false desires

• Social Contract

• “Noble Savage”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Influence on French and American revolutions

• "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
• Invest all rights and liberties into a society
• Compare to a corporation

“Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains.”

• “Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains.”

• Rousseau

Summary of Rousseau's Teachings

Denis Diderot

• Encyclopedia

• Teach people how to think critically
• Solicited articles from many experts
• Controversial articles brought criticism
• Overall, moved forward the ideas of Enlightenment

"The good of the people must be the great purpose of government. By the laws of nature and of reason, the governors are invested with power to that end. And the greatest good of the people is liberty. It is to the state what health is to the individual."

• "The good of the people must be the great purpose of government. By the laws of nature and of reason, the governors are invested with power to that end. And the greatest good of the people is liberty. It is to the state what health is to the individual."

• - Diderot in L'Encyclopedie: Article on Government, quoted in Barzun, Jacques, From Dawn to Decadence, Perennial, 2000, p370.

Immanuel Kant

• From Germany

• Strict habits

• The Critique of Pure Reason and …Practical Reason

• Weakness of Empiricism
• Transcendentalism
• Empiricism and other knowledge
• Ex: infinity

• Categorical Imperative

"You should behave with only those types of behavior that are dictated by the absolute nature of the basic principle on which the act is based."

• "You should behave with only those types of behavior that are dictated by the absolute nature of the basic principle on which the act is based."

• "Act as if your actions would become a moral maxim (principle or model) for all others and at all times."

• – From Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative

David Hume

• Scottish philosopher

• Leader of empiricism movement

• Grew to distrust all

Adam Smith

• Scottish professor

• Wealth of Nation (1776)

• Free trade/capitalism

• Devised capitalism

• Laissez Faire la nature

• Literally, "let do": a philosophy that advocates minimal government interference in the economy.

Edward Gibbon

• Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

• Urged reform in England

• Anti-religious bias

Effects of the Enlightenment

• England

• Civil war and establishment of a limited monarchy
• Anger in the colonies because they are treated differently than "mother England"

• France

• No immediate change but seething discontent that will lead to revolution

• Other countries

• Attempts to adopt Enlightenment principles

Enlightened Despots

• Frederick II of Prussia (r. 1740-1786)

• Rebelled against father
• Later developed finest army
• Built Sans Souci (Potsdam)
• Invited Voltaire to the court

Enlightened Despots

• Catherine the Great of Russia (r. 1762-1796)

• German born wife of Czar Peter III
• Controlled government after Peter III’s accidental(?) death
• Increased European culture in Russia
• Peasant Reforms
• Territorial Expansion
• Corresponded with Diderot

Enlightened Despots

• Gustav III of Sweden (r. 1771-1792)

• Forced Parliament to accept new constitution
• Stimulated literature

• Charles III of Spain (r. 1759-1788)

• Bourbon family
• Improved life for Spanish
• Suppressed Jesuits

Maria Theresa and Joseph II of Austria (r. 1740-1780)

• 16 children

• Economic reforms

• Limited power of the Pope

• Reduced power of the lords

• Joseph abolished serfdom

• Poland divided

Enlightened Despots vs. Absolute Rulers

• Focused on

• improving country

• Economic

• reform

• Sought advise

French Revolution

Causes and Attitudes

• The Enlightenment

• Anglophile feeling in France

• The American Revolution

• French system’s lack of change

• Louis XVI clung to Absolutism
• King’s response to the poor
• Class resentment
• Economic problems

First Stage (1789-1793)

• King desired new tax to stabilize economy

• Estates General (3 estates)

• Not met for 150 years
• Needed to meet
• Certified by Parlement (high court)
• Election in early 1789

• Finally met in Spring 1789

• 3rd Estate walked out

First Stage

• National Assembly (1789-1793)

• 3rd estate met in indoor tennis court
• Resolved to stay in session until constitution could be written
• King couldn't get money
• King instructed 1st and 2nd estates to meet with National Assembly
• 3rd estate doubled their numbers
• 1st and 2nd sat on right, 3rd sat on left
• Formed municipal government

First Stage

• Events at Bastille

• July 14, 1789
• Municipal government trying to get arms

• Revolts in the countryside

Actions of the National Assembly

• Destruction of privilege

• Declaration of the Rights of Man

• Secularization of the church

• New constitution

Second Stage Radical revolution

• Disillusionment of the lower class (inflation)

• Girondists (moderates) had no strong leader

• France drawn into war with Europe

• Failure in wars (1st coalition, 1792-1797)

• Moderates removed as leaders of National Assembly
• Counter-revolutions
• King and queen arrested

• Jacobins take control

Second Stage Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

• Committee for Public Safety

• France losing war with others in Europe

• Reforms

• Metric system
• New calendar
• Universal suffrage
• Slavery eliminated
• Paris commune
• Land redistribution
• Defaced churches

• Guillotine

• 20,000 die
• King and queen die

Third Stage—Return of the moderates (1794-1799)

• Thermidorian reaction

• Counter-revolution

• "Whiff of grapeshot"(1795)

• Death of Marat, Danton, Robespierre

• Moderates gained control of National Convention

• Return of expatriate noblemen allowed (money)

• National Assembly re-elected

• Adoption of new constitution

• Rule by the Directory

Third Stage—Return of the moderates

• The Directory governed

• Some military successes (Napoleon)

• Directory criticized for poor leadership

• Directory desperate for a popular leader

• 2nd Coalition (1799-1801) formed
• Napoleon invited to be consul

You Went The Wrong Way, Old King Louie by Allan Sherman

• Louis the Sixteenth was the King of France in 1789. He was worse than Louis the Fifteenth. He was worse than Louis the Fourteenth. He was worse than Louis the Thirteenth. He was the worst since Louis the First. King Louis was living like a king,

• but the people were living rotten. So the people, they started an uprising which they called the French Revolution, and of course you remember their battle cry, which will never be forgotten:

• You went the wrong way, Old King Louie. You made the population cry. 'Cause all you did was sit and pet With Marie Antoinette In your place at Versailles.

• And now the country's gone kablooie. So we are giving you the air. That oughta teach you not to Spend all your time fooling 'round At the Folies Bergere.

• If you had been a nicer king, We wouldn't do a thing, But you were bad, you must admit. We're gonna take you and the Queen Down to the guillotine, And shorten you a little bit.

Music of the Classical Era

• Began: death of Bach

• Ended: Beethoven (mid-life)

Music changes to meet Middle Class needs

• more music-making in the home creates needs:

• simpler music for less skilled musicians
• music industry (instrument manufacture, publishing, performing organizations)
• music education (instrument & voice lessons, composition, appreciation)

• opera: characters and plots revolve around commoners, not the aristocracy or mythology as in the Baroque era. Plots often ridicule the aristocracy.

Music in the Classical Era

• Austria (particularly Vienna) and Germany are the cultural centers.

• Patronage, an important music/economic institution in the mid-1700s breaks down by 1790. Why?

• Concert Halls and opera houses flourish providing entertainment for middle class audiences.

• Publishers influence what composers write. [Why? What is the connection to middle class music-making?]

Music in the Classical Era

• Much more secular music is composed and performed. The religious fervor of earlier Baroque composers such as Bach is gone.

Music in the Classical Era

• Function of Music: Entertainment

• in the concert hall, opera hall, theater, estate drawing room
• In the home--filler of leisure time (Gebrauchmusik, i.e., “useful” music.) [Useful for what?]
• dancing is VIMP pastime

• “Music must meet listeners where they are.” What are the implications of this statement?

Ruminate on...

• patronage and

• Haydn
• Mozart
• Beethoven

• why the French Revolution and industrialization led to the demise of patronage.

• why less complex music is favored in classical culture.

Viennese Classical Style

Classicism in Music

• Viennesse School: Four Composers

• Franz Joseph Haydn
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Ludwig van Beethoven
• Franz Schubert

Patronage System

• Exchange of artistic services for

• A place to live
• A Salary
• Clothes
• Rank in Society
• Depends on the patron.
• Servant to aristocratic patronage.

Music of the Classical Era

• Written for middle class

• Non-sophisticated Listener
• Simple and Melodic Themes
• Bach: Fugue Mozart: Eine Kleine…
• Large Room
• Bach: Air Beethoven: 9th
• Movements have beginning, middle, end
• Bach: Brandenburg Beethoven: 5th
• Easier to play
• Bach: Fugue Beethoven: Für Elise

“I write my music in order that the weary and worn or the men burdened with affairs might enjoy a few minutes of solace and refreshment.”

• “I write my music in order that the weary and worn or the men burdened with affairs might enjoy a few minutes of solace and refreshment.”

• — Haydn

Structure of Music

• Melody carried the interest

• Form still needed to give meaning

• Note power of the human voice
• Instrumental music uses strong melody as power

Style in Classical Music

• Melody – singable symmetrical, lyrical.

• Harmony- diatonic, tonic to dominant relationships

• Rhythm – regular and symmetrical

• Texture- Homophonic with some polyphony at times.

• Folk elements: national themes, folk themes, dances etc. used in instrumental works.

“There can be no art

• “There can be no art

• without form.”

• Igor Stravinsky

Musical Objectives

• Explore major-minor system

• Develop homophonic system

• Focus on simple melody

• Chords and cadences

• Large structures

• Cultivate human voice

• Explore new instruments

STYLISTIC TRANSFORMATIONS

• Introduction of a new instrument, the fortepiano

• Contrasted with strings and winds

• Favored by amateurs and rising middle class

• Development of the “Accompanied Sonata”

Music and Literary Analogy

• Musical notes

• Musical phrases

• Musical themes

• Musical movements

• Symphonies

Forms of Movements

• Theme and Variation

• Rondo

• Minuet and Trio

• Sonata-allegro form

Forms of Entire Works

• Concerto (expanded)

• Symphony

Classical Architecture and Music

Music Journalism

• CA 1790 Music Journalism exploded on the European scene.

• “Intellect, intellect, intellect!” Herr Beethoven’s music is too complex. It isn’t musical entertainment; it’s intellectual “mind games.” Once again Beethoven wrote something that no one wants to hear.

• He is known to have replied to one reporter,

• “Of course you don’t understand it. I wrote the piece for future generations. They will understand and appreciate it.”

• He was correct.

Music of the Classical Era

• Characteristics (Viennese style)

• Dedication to form
• From the Germans
• Strong melody
• From the Italians
• Homophonic

Overview

LIFE-TIME-LINES

Musical Influences

• Influence of Turkish music (Janissary band) felt in Vienna and Berlin due to the amount of Turkish immigrants to Austria.

• Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven wrote Turkish Marches.

• Added percussion to orchestra

• Bass drum, triangle, cymbals

• Whirling dervish ceremony imitated in Beethoven

SUMMARY – 18TH CENTURY

• IDEAS – Enlightenment & rationalist Criticism

• ART – 3 genres: Rococo, Neo-Classical, Bourgeois (Genre)

• MUSIC – Genres such as the SYMPHONY and the STRING QUARTET emerge, all emphasizing CLARITY of musical ideas and the organization of CONTRAST, exemplified by SONATA FORM

• key composers: HAYDN, MOZART & early Beethoven