Music in the Romantic Period (Music 536)

Spring Semester (2009), Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 1:00–1:50 p.m., room 121

Dr. Rosenblatt, office #227

Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2–4 p.m., or by appointment

Office Phone: 621-1120

E-mail: jrosenbl@u.arizona.edu

Web page: http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/rosenblatt/

 

Course Description

The purpose of this class is to explore the history of music of the romantic period, beginning around 1813 and ending around 1890.  In addition to discussion of various genres and musical forms, the sessions will explore the connection between music and society, including the expectations of contemporary musicians and audiences.

 

Course Objectives

1. to develop an historical understanding of the period 1813–1890

2. to explore the underlying forms and compositional techniques that distinguish this period

3. to understand social expectations and the ways they may have shaped the lives of the composers and influenced their resulting works

4. to discuss current scholarly research

 

Class Policies

Assignments:  The course work consists of listening and reading assignments, and books and scores are on reserve in the music library (for recordings, see below).  Also required are two 5–6 page papers on assigned works.  The "questions" included in most week's assignments will help focus your reading for class preparation and may also be the topic of class discussions.  An "optional" longer paper (8–10 pages) may be done at the student's discretion to raise a grade.  This paper must have a strong research component and include citations and bibliography.  Finally, this paper should be an original work, written by the student for this class.  First paper due: Friday, February 20; second paper due, Friday, April 17; optional paper TBA.

 

Listening:  All required listening can be found at <http://eres.library.arizona.edu/> (Electronic Reserves), and to access the files for this class, you will need the password ("schumann").

 

Exams:  There will be a midterm examination that will cover course material since the beginning of the semester (Friday, March 6), and a final examination that will cover material since the previous midterm (Monday, May 11).  The exam questions include information from the readings and the lectures, which do not necessarily overlap: if you cannot be present at a class session, please be sure to get notes from someone who was.

 

Grading:  Midterm (30%), Final (30%), two papers (20% each).  In the event that a student chooses to write an optional paper, the above percentages will be 5% less, and the additional paper worth 20%.  All grades will be assigned according to a 100 point standard, with A = 90–100, B = 80–89, etc.  According to the requirements of the School of Music, you must receive a grade of "C" or higher in order for this class to count towards your degree.  Please note that no one will be given an "I" (incomplete) unless nearly all the course work has been completed.  Note also this class cannot be repeated.

 

Attendance:  Students are expected to attend all class sessions.  If circumstances do not permit attendance, please contact me before class.  It is imperative that you obtain class notes of any missed classes from another student.

 

Texts

Required Texts (on sale at the bookstore):

(1)  Leon Plantinga, Romantic Music: A History of Musical Style in Nineteenth-Century Europe

(2)  Franz Schubert, Symphony No. 8 ("Unfinished") (Norton Critical Scores)

(3)  Robert Schumann, Dichterliebe (Norton Critical Scores)

(4)  Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 (Dover Miniature Scores)

 

Also required (available at Harvill Copy Center in bi-weekly installments):

(5)  Music Anthology  (will also include the Analysis Assignments)

 

Optional Text (also on sale at the bookstore):

(6)  Piero Weiss & Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World: A History in Documents


Readings (on reserve in the music library):

Andrew Bonner, "Liszt's Les Preludes and Les Quatre Élémens," 19th-Century Music 10 (Fall 1986): 95–107 [JSTOR, linked through Electronic Reserves]

Julian Budden, The Operas of Verdi (vol. 1) [ML410.V4 B88]

David Cairns, trans., The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz [ML410.B5 A243 1969]

Martin Chusid, ed., Schubert: Symphony in B Minor ("Unfinished") [M1001.S38 no.8N]

Carl Dahlhaus, Nineteenth-Century Music [ML196.D2513 1989]

Eric Frederick Jensen, "Explicating Jean Paul: Robert Schumann's Program for Papillons, Op. 2," 19th-Century Music 22 (Fall 1998): 127–143 [JSTOR, linked through Electronic Reserves]

Arthur Komar, ed., Schumann: Dichterliebe [M1621.4.S392 1971]

Alexander Main, "Liszt After Lamartine," Music and Letters 60 (1979): 133–148 [JSTOR, linked through Electronic Reserves]

William S. Newman, The Sonata Since Beethoven [ML1156.N44 1983]

Leon Plantinga, Romantic Music [ML196.P6 1984]

Henry Pleasants, ed., The Musical World of Robert Schumann [ML196.S3]

Charles Rosen, The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (expanded edition) [ML195.R68 1997]

Oliver Strunk, Source Readings in Music History [ML160.S89, ML160.S89 1998 v.6]

Piero Weiss & Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World: A History in Documents [ML160.M865 1984]

 

Scores (on reserve in the music library):

Vincenzo Bellini, La sonnambula [M1503.B444s]

Hector Berlioz, Fantastic Symphony (Norton Critical Scores) [M1001.B51s N88]

Hector Berlioz, Requiem [M2010.B515r]

Hector Berlioz, Roméo et Juliette [M3.B515 v.18]

Johannes Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem [M2010.B813r K14]

Johannes Brahms, Complete symphonies in full orchestral score [M1001.B81 G3 1974]

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 7 [M1001.B88 no. 4 1990]

Gaetano Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor [M1500.D683 L7 1992]

César Franck, Symphony in D Minor [M1001.F822 op.48 1987]

Giacomo Meyerbeer, Le prophčte [M1503.M613 P76]

Gioachino Rossini, L'italiana in Algeri [M1503.R835 I8 1966]

Gioachino Rossini, Tancredi [M1503.R835 T162 1991]

Franz Schubert, Symphony in B Minor ("Unfinished") [M1001.S38 no.8N]

Robert Schumann, Dichterliebe (Norton Critical Scores) [M1621.4.S392 1971]

Bedrich Smetana, The Moldau [M1002 .S638m no.2]

Giuseppe Verdi, Otello [M1500.V48o]

Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem [M3.V48 1983 ser. 3 v. 1]

Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto [M1500.V48 R3 1992]

Giuseppe Verdi, Il trovatore [M1500.V48tro]

Richard Wagner, Götterdämmerung [M1500.W134 G6 1982]

Carl Maria von Weber, Der Freischütz [M1500.W374 F7 1977]

 

Class Sessions (the amount of class time given to each topic may be subject to change):

 

Week One (January 14):  Introduction.  Beethoven I.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Listening:  Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 1; Strunk (1950 ed.), pp. 750–763 — or — (1998 ed., vol. 6) pp. 19–30 (Wackenroder)

 

No class session Monday, January 19 (Martin Luther King, Jr., Day)

 

Week Two (January 21):  Beethoven II.  Beethoven's Contemporaries.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837)

Carl Czerny (1791–1857)

Listening:  Beethoven, "An die ferne Geliebte," Op. 98

            Beethoven, Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110

            Czerny, Variations on a theme of Rode ("La ricordanza"), Op. 33

            Hummel, Sonata in F-sharp Minor, Op. 81 (first movement)

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 3; chapter 4, pp. 79–82, 91–103

Question:  How does Hummel's use of sonata form differ from Beethoven's?


Week Three (January 26):  Schubert.

Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752–1814)

Carl Loewe (1796–1869)

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

Listening:  Reichardt, "Erlkönig"

            Loewe, "Erlkönig," Op. 1, no. 3

            Schubert, Lieder (Op. 1 and 4)

            Schubert, "Wanderer" Fantasy, Op. 15 (D. 760)

            Schubert, Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, "Unfinished" (D. 759)

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 4, pp. 82–91, 103–106; chapter 5; Norton Critical Score, pp. 3–11, 98–110; Dahlhaus, pp. 152–160

Question:  How does Schubert's use of sonata form differ from Beethoven's?

Assignment:  First Analysis Paper (Mendelssohn, "Hebrides" Overture, Op. 26— due Friday, February 20)

 

Week Four (February 2):  Rossini and Italian Opera.

Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835)

Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)

Listening:  Rossini, Tancredi, Act I (Recitative e Cavatina,"O patria!")

Rossini, L'italiana in Algeri, Act I (Recitative e Cavatina, "Quanta roba!")

Bellini, La sonnambula, Act I (Scena e Cavatina, "Care compagne")

Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, Act I (Scena e Cavatina, "Ancor non giunse")

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 6, pp. 127–143; Budden, vol. 1, pp. 3–24

 

Week Five (February 9):  German Opera.  French Grand Opera.

Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826)

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864)

Listening:  Weber, Der Freischütz, Act I, nos. 3–4

Meyerbeer, Le prophčte, Act IV, sc. ii (extract)

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 6, pp. 150–165

Question:  How do these examples of opera differ from the Italian selections of Week Four?

 

Week Six (February 16):  The Romantic Generation I.

Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)

Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

Prerequisite:  Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14

Listening:  Berlioz, Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17 (excerpts)

            Schumann, Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17 (first movement)

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 7, pp. 166–173, 203–219; Cairns, The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz, pp. 247–252 (chapter 49); Rosen, The Classical Style, "Epilogue," pp. 451–454 (to end of first complete paragraph)

Questions:  Look up "fantasia" in at least two music dictionaries or encyclopedias.  How does this term apply to Schumann's work? to Berlioz's work?

 

Week Seven (February 23):  The Romantic Generation II.

Nicolň Paganini (1782–1840)

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)

Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)

Listening:  Paganini, Caprice, Op. 1, no. 17

            Liszt, Paganini Etude No. 2 (two versions)

            Liszt, Paraphrase de Concert: Rigoletto

            Schumann, Papillons, Op. 2

            Chopin, Ballade, Op. 23

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 7, pp. 173–203, and chapter 8; Weiss & Taruskin, (1st ed.) pp. 340–345, 357–365 — or — (2nd ed.) pp. 289–293, 303–310; Eric Frederick Jensen, "Explicating Jean Paul: Robert Schumann's Program for Papillons, Op. 2"

 

Week Eight (March 2):  The Romantic Generation III.  Midterm Examination.

Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

Listening:  Schumann, Dichterliebe, Op. 48

Reading:  Norton Critical Score, pp. 3–12

Midterm:  March 6

 


Week Nine (March 9):  New Directions in Form I.

Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

Listening:  Schumann, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 (first movement)

            Schumann, Symphony No. 4 (first version, 1841)

Reading: Pleasants, pp. 107–109, 146–147

 

Spring Break (Saturday, March 14 to Sunday, March 22)

 

Week Ten (March 23):  New Directions in Form II.

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)

Listening:  Liszt, Sonata in B Minor

Reading:  Newman, pp. 359–378

Question:  How do the Schumann and Liszt works relate to the symphonies and sonatas discussed earlier in the semester?

 

Week Eleven (March 30):  Italian Opera and Verdi.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)

Listening:  Verdi, Rigoletto, Act III (extract)

            Verdi, Otello, Act III (extract)

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 10, pp. 298–323; Budden, vol. 1, pp. 27–41; Weiss & Taruskin, (1st ed.) pp. 406–411 — or — (2nd ed.) pp. 345–350

Questions:  How does Verdi's approach to opera differ from the composers in Week Four?  How is it the same?

Assignment:  Second Analysis Paper (Verdi, aria from Il trovatore  — due Friday, April 17)

 

Week Twelve (April 6):  Wagnerian Opera.

Richard Wagner (1813–1883)

Listening:  Wagner, Götterdämmerung, Act III (conclusion)

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 9; Weiss & Taruskin, (1st ed.) pp. 374–375 — or — (2nd ed.) pp. 319–320

Questions:  How does Wagner's approach to opera differ from earlier composers?  How is it the same?

 

Week Thirteen (April 13):  Sacred Music.

Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)

Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)

Listening:  Berlioz, Requiem ("Dies irae")

            Verdi, Requiem ("Dies irae" through "Tuba mirum")

            Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem (sixth movement)

Question:  Contrast the treatment of "Judgement Day" in the three Requiems.

 

Week Fourteen (April 20):  The Symphonic Poem.  Nationalism.

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)

Bedrich Smetana (1824–1884)

Modest Musorgsky (1839–1881)

Listening:  Liszt, Symphonic Poem No. 3, "Les préludes"

            Smetana, The Moldau

            Musorgsky, Boris Godunov, "Coronation Scene"

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 11, pp. 341–358, 362–397, chapter 12, pp. 405–411; Main, "Liszt After Lamartine"; Bonner, "Liszt's Les Preludes and Les Quatre Élémens"; Dahlhaus, pp. 236–244; Weiss & Taruskin, (1st ed.) pp. 380–385, 390–396 — or — (2nd ed.) pp. 324–329, 333–338

Question:  What is the relationship between Liszt's program and his symphonic poem? 

 

Week Fifteen (April 27):  The Second Age of the Symphony.

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)

César Franck (1822–1890)

Anton Bruckner (1824–1896)

Listening:  Brahms, Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90

            Bruckner, Symphony No. 7 in E Major (first movement)

Reading:  Plantinga, chapter 12, pp. 417–446; Dahlhaus, pp. 265–276; Weiss & Taruskin, (1st ed.) pp. 397–405 — or —  pp. 338–345

Questions:  How does the use of sonata form in these works compare with the examples from earlier in the semester?  What do these works have in common with the symphonic poem?

 

Week Sixteen (May 4):  Review.

 

Final Examination:  Monday, May 11, 11:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m.