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Chapter 11 Prelude : Music and the Enlightenment

Chapter 11 Prelude : Music and the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment and Music. The Enlightenment “The Pursuit of Happiness” Rococo Divertimento. Opera buffa Novel Neoclassicism Classical style. Key Terms. Classical Timeline. Classical Timeline. Prelude.

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Chapter 11 Prelude : Music and the Enlightenment

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  1. Chapter 11Prelude: Music and the Enlightenment The Enlightenment and Music

  2. The Enlightenment “The Pursuit of Happiness” Rococo Divertimento Opera buffa Novel Neoclassicism Classical style Key Terms

  3. Classical Timeline

  4. Classical Timeline

  5. Prelude • Classical style emerged in second part of the eighteenth century • Pioneers included composers in Italy & Bach’s sons working in Germany & London • Reached maturity in the hands of great composers in Vienna–Haydn & Mozart • Vienna an important crossroads • Capital of Hapsburg (Austro-Hungarian) empire • Influence of Germany, Bohemia (Czech Republic), Hungary, & Italy

  6. Vienna (1) • Vienna’s golden years—1780-1790 • Emperor Joseph II an enlightened ruler • Emancipated peasants • Furthered education • Reduced power of the clergy • Supported music & literature • Encouraged free press • Many composers were drawn to Vienna

  7. Vienna (2)

  8. Composers in Vienna • Haydn was Europe’s principal composer • Worked in nearby Eisenstadt • Wrote symphonies for far-off Paris & London • Mozart came from Salzburg in 1781 • Spent final decade of his life in Vienna • Wrote many of his greatest works • Beethoven arrived from Bonn in 1792 • Came to study with Haydn • Launched his career in Vienna

  9. The Enlightenment and Music • France the center of the Enlightenment • Influenced by English philosophy • Influential in Germany & Austria • Major figures included Voltaire & Rousseau • Rooted in a faith in reason • Derived from Baroque scientific orientation • Science now to be used for human benefit • Applied rational methods to social sphere • Public morality, education, & politics • Social injustice & religion came under fire

  10. “The Pursuit of Happiness” • American contribution to Enlightenment was profound • Declaration of Independence & Federalist Papers • Notion that a new state could be founded on rational principles • Emphasis on human rights–“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” • An age that valued good living • Encouraged intelligence, wit, & sensitivity • Invented salon, coffee house, & public concert

  11. Art and Entertainment • Arts expected to entertain, to please • Not to instruct, impress, or express • Rococo style fashionable at midcentury • Light, decorative style • Popular in painting, furniture, jewelry design • Music developed a similar style (galant) • Light & charming • Divertimento a typical genre–designed to divert, amuse, & entertain

  12. Jean-Jacques Rousseau & Opera (1) • Rousseau the first “alienated” intellectual • Emphasis on nature & the individual • The “natural man” an influential idea • Social institutions seen as too stifling • Wrote articles on politics & music for the great French Encyclopédie (1751-65) • Rousseau attacked Baroque opera! • Encouraged a simpler, more natural music that focused on real people, real life

  13. Jean-Jacques Rousseau & Opera (2) • Rousseau was excited by a new Italian comic opera • Pergolesi’s La serva padrona • Lively, catchy music • No coloratura singing or exaggerated emotion • Story of servant girl who tricks a rich bachelor into marriage • Encouraged French comic opera as well • Comic opera became the most progressive operatic form of the day

  14. The Novel (1) • New genre took hold around 1750 • Literary equivalent of the new comic opera • Features that made the novel popular • Sharp, realistic observation of contemporary life • Sensitive depiction of feeling • Many managed to be sexually explicit, sentimental, & moralistic all at the same time

  15. The Novel (2) • Well-known early novels included— • Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones • Samuel Richardson’s Pamela • Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion, etc. • Many novels were turned into operas • Mozart’s great operas can be compared to great novels • Penetrating, sympathetic portrayal of characters

  16. Neoclassicism • Important movement in the visual arts • Emphasis on “the natural” • Influence of Greek & Roman classics • Return to simple, natural values • Rejection of complex Baroque solemnity • Rejection of pleasant Rococo frivolity • Gluck attempted to reform serious opera • Austere yet dramatic classical subjects • Simpler, more natural melodies

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