History of Music in Classical Era 3106-HMK
Course classes devoted to selected elements of Western European music history in the 18th century (1720–1820), seen in the context of the specific characteristics of the most important musical centers (Naples, Rome, Venice, Milan, Paris, London, Berlin, Mannheim, and Vienna) and their mutual relations, presented in a chronological and thematic framework.
The lecture traditionally focuses on the most important issues related to the vocal-instrumental music of the era, with particular emphasis on opera in its various national forms (Italian opera seria and buffa, French musical tragedies and comic operas, German singspiel), resulting from the specific political and cultural conditions of the most important European centers. The exercises, on the other hand, are devoted primarily to instrumental music, which developed intensively during the Classical era. They discuss the most important forms and genres, including the sonata form and cycle in its various variations (piano sonata, string quartet, symphony, piano concerto). An important place in both the lecture and the exercises is given to the issue of musical styles of the era, from the galant style, through the empfindsamer Stil, to the mature classical style realized in the works of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Main topics:
1. Introduction to the era and its periodization; the polystylism of the “middle age” and the classical style.
2. Characteristics of Italian centers – Naples, Rome, Venice; the development of the galant style in Italian opera music (intermezzi and scene buffe, opera buffa, opera seria) and its influence on the formation of early classical instrumental music, including the Italian sinfonia.
3. From Milan to London: the galant style in the works of Johann Christian Bach.
4. Berlin and Hamburg: empindsamer Stil in the works of Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
5. Mannheim and Vienna in the mid-18th century.
6. Not only Paris: the traditions of J.Ph. Rameau's late Baroque musical tragedy and the Parisian “opera quarrels” (I, II), and the reform movement of Italian opera seria in the mid-18th century (including R. de Calzabigi, Ch.W. Gluck); attempts to reform musical tragedy and the third opera quarrel (Gluckists and Piccinists).
7. Between Vienna, Esterhazy, [Paris], and London: symphonies and quartets by Joseph Haydn, elements of his vocal-instrumental works (late operas, late oratorios, and masses).
8. The operatic genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – the transformation of opera seria, drammi giocosi, a new artistic level of singspiel.
9. The piano concerto in the Classical era.
10. The crowning achievement of the era's instrumental music: Mozart's symphonies and the “new path” in Beethoven's work.
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students should:
- know the basic terminology related to music cultivated in the Classical era
- have structured knowledge of selected issues in the history of Classical music, such as concepts of periodization of the era, the activities of the most important composers with elements of their biographies, basic compositional styles and techniques,
- be familiar with the most important musical forms and genres of the era, including elements of knowledge about the performance practices of the time, characterized in chronological perspective and from the point of view of the specific musical culture of the most important musical centers of Europe
- know the basic paths of interpretation of various products of musical culture of the Classical era
- understand the specificity of the broadly understood classical musical language and its complexity in the perspective of its historical and geographical variability within the era
- be able to search for, analyze, evaluate, select, and use information on the history of music in the Classical era using various bibliographic sources
- be able to recognize and characterize various types of musical styles, forms, and genres specific to the era (auditory and based on sheet music)
- have the ability to argue substantively, using the views of other authors, and to formulate conclusions on issues related to the history of classical music
- have the ability to prepare oral and written presentations in Polish on specific issues related to the history of classical music
- be able to cooperate and work in a group, taking on various roles within it
- be aware of the level of their own knowledge and skills in the field of classical music history and understand the need for further education after graduation in order to be able to fulfill their social obligations responsibly
Assessment criteria
The course ends with an exam. In order to take the exam in History of Music in Classical Era, students must successfully complete the exercises in this field in accordance with the conditions specified by the person conducting the exercises.
The exam may be oral or written. The erudite material required and enforced during the exam in the History of Classical Music covers the topics of the lecture and classes, along with supplementary readings indicated as mandatory.
If the oral form of the exam is chosen, students answer two randomly selected questions. The degree of erudition and the logic of the answers are evaluated. The exam is received by the persons conducting the lecture and exercises.
If the written form of the exam is chosen, students will receive an exam sheet consulted with the person conducting the classes. The exam sheet is to be completed in approximately 90 minutes. The exam sheet will consist mainly of the open questions; one of the questions usually takes the form of a concise essay on a given topic of a cross-sectional nature, requiring the synthesis of knowledge from several lectures/classes. The expected grading scale in percentages is as follows: pass = 55%, good = 70%, very good = 85%.
If the relevant authorities so decide, it is possible to conduct classes remotely and pass exercises and exams using Google Meet (oral form) or the university's Kampus-Egzaminy platform (written form).
Practical placement
not relevant
Bibliography
Introduction:
M. Piotrowska, Paradygmat europejskiej muzyki klasycznej, w: Dziedzictwo europejskie a polska kultura muzyczna w dobie przemian, red. A. Czekanowska, Kraków 1995
J. Webster, The eighteenth century as a music-historical period?, “Eighteenth-Century Music” (1) 2004 nr 1, s. 47–60
Manuals, compendia and encyclopaedias:
J. Chomiński, K. Wilkowska-Chomińska, Historia muzyki, cz. 1-2, Kraków 1989-90
U. Michels, Atlas muzyki, tłum. P. Maculewicz, t. 1, Warszawa 2002
R.G. Pauly, Music in the Classic Period, Prentice Hall 1965
L.G. Ratner, Classic Music. Expression, Form, and Style, Schirmer Book 1980
Ch. Rosen, Styl klasyczny: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, tłum. R. Augustyn, Warszawa-Kraków 2014
R. Taruskin, The Oxford History of Western Music, t.2: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Oxford University Press 2010
N. Zaslaw (red.), The Classical Era: from the 1740s to the end of the 18th century, Macmillan 1989 (seria Man & Music)
E. Dziębowska (red.), EM PWM, [hasła osobowe] Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (mainly elemenets of biographies and an overviews of theit compositional output)
Styles of „middle age”:
Ch. Burney, Obecny stan muzyki we Francji i Italii albo Dziennik podróży przez owe kraje podjętej celem zebrania materiałów dla „Powszechnej historii muzyki”, tłum. J. Chachulski, Warszawa 2017
Ch. Burney, Obecny stan muzyki w Niemczech, Niderlandach i Zjednoczonych Prowincjach, tłum. J. Chachulski, Warszawa 2018
D. Heartz, Music in European Capitals: The Galant Style, 1720-1780
A. Mądry, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: estetyka, stylistyka, dzieło, Poznań 2003
M. Vignal, Synowie Bacha, tłum. W. Kosiorek, Kraków 2017
Z. Skowron, Myśl muzyczna Jeana-Jacques’a Rousseau, Warszawa 2010
J. Haydn:
The Cambridge Companion to Haydn, Cambridge 2011
D. Gwizdalanka, Idiom kwartetowy w twórczości Józefa Haydna, „Muzyka“ 1985 nr 2, s. 3-28
K. Geiringer, Haydn, Kraków 1985
F. Grave, The string quartets of Joseph Haydn, Oxford 2006
H.C. Robbins Landon, Haydn: chronicle and works, Bloomington 1977
H.C. Robbins Landon, The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn, London 1955
W. Lister, The First Performance of Haydn’s ‘Paris’ Symphonies, „Eighteenth Century Music”, 2004, nr 2, s. 289-300
W.A. Mozart:
The Cambridge Companion to Mozart, Cambridge 2003
D. Gwizdalanka, Mozart, PWM 2022
W.A. Mozart, Listy, tłum. I. Dembowski, Warszawa 1991
R. Maunder, Mozart’s Keyboard Instruments, „Early Music” 1992 nr 2, s. 207-219
L. van Beethoven:
G.F. Marek, Beethoven: biografia geniusza, Warszawa 1997
I. Poniatowska, Rozwój faktury fortepianowej Beethovenena, „Muzyka” 1970 nr 4
D.F. Tovey, A companion to Beethoven’s pianoforte sonatas: (complete analyses), London 1935
K. Lisiecka, Świadectwo opery: „Fidelio” Ludwiga van Beethovena na tle przekształceń świadomości europejskiej przełomu XVIII i XIX wieku, Poznań 2007
Forms and compositional techniques:
M.Th. Roeder, A History of the Concerto, Oregon 1994
Ch. Rosen, Sonata forms, New York-London 1980
A. Chodkowski, Teoria formy sonatowej Francesco Galeazziego i jej zastosowanie do analizy dzieł Haydna i Mozarta, „Muzyka” 1991 nr 4, s. 69-76
Additional detailed literature related to specific topics covered in the lecture/exercises may be indicated during the classes.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: