Due Apr 13
Enlightenment: Classical Music
The orchestral sound we know as “Classical Music” coalesced in the 18th century. Of particular interest to us: the symphony and sonata form. Both are musical structures, not unlike the Petrarchan sonnet, with sonata form nested inside the symphony. Today we will focus on two early and prolific symphonic masters, Mozart and Haydn. Some of you are already students of classical music, but for those who are not trained musicians, the following exercises will likely prove somewhat challenging.
Sonata Form
Listen: the first movement of Mozart’s Symphony 40, (make sure to stop the video at 8:15, or you’ll end up listening to the whole symphony).
Watch and learn: Inside the Score, “How to Listen to Music: Sonata Form” (link)
Apply the lesson: here you get two options, depending on how confident you are in your skills. Note: because this assignment is unique, it is REQUIRED of everyone. It is separate from written HW, which as usual asks you to respond to one of my prompts and to one of your peers each week.
- Easier: anatomize movement 1 of Mozart’s Symphony 40, which you just heard analyzed.
- Harder: anatomize movement 1 of Haydn’s Symphony 88.
Symphonic Structure
Watch and learn: Enjoy Classical Music, “The Symphony—Explained in under 5 mins” (link)
Listen: Haydn Symphony 45, “Farewell.”
Writing: After listening to Haydn’s Symphony 45, “Farewell,” respond to ONE of the following prompts. To quote from the music, you can opt to specify the time signature or, better, paste in a YouTube URL that points to just before the moment you want us to hear. Either way, give a rich verbal paraphrase of what you want us to hear when we listen:
- Dynamics: point to a moment when Symphony 45 surprises the listener with a sudden shift from loud to soft or from soft to loud. What’s the emotional impact of this change?
- Instrumentation: point to a moment when Symphony 45 shifts instruments. What’s the emotional impact of this change?
- Key: point to a moment when Symphony 45 shifts musical key. What’s the emotional impact of this change? In your response, keep in mind that many of your peers don’t know much about Classical music, so help us understand why the musical key matters, and how it functions in this particular instance to produce an emotional response.
Dynamics
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Around 20:40 of Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No.45 in F-sharp minor “Farewell”, near the last movement, there is a clear dynamic shift. As the musicians start to leave the stage one by one, the music suddenly shifts from a bigger orchestral sound to something softer and quieter. There is an unexpected and comical emotional impact. Not like the other symphonies, where it concludes loudly and clearly, this one slowly fades away, producing a serene and contemplative atmosphere, yet also jokingly saying the performers’ farewell
I agree with your point completely, but I’d like to add that the shift isn’t just calm or comedic but it also feels a little unsettling. In the moment when the texture suddenly thins and the sound drops off as the players leave, it almost breaks the illusion of a “grand” symphony and makes you aware of absence, not just quietness. Instead of a typical satisfying ending, it feels incomplete on purpose making it complete in itself. This makes the moment both funny and strangely intimate, like the music is quietly slipping away rather than concluding.
A moment when the dynamic completely changes happens at minute 03:17, when there is a shift from loud, fast-paced music to a slow, quieter segment. The entirety of the song before this part is full of vitality and power, so when the music shifts like this, it creates an entirely different feeling for the viewer and comes as a surprise. It is a quick shift in tone from high energy to calmness. This quieter section also serves as a buildup to an ever more intense shift back to a louder segment, creating anticipation for this moment. Even with my limited knowledge of classical music, I thought that you could tell that the segment that followed would be even stronger and faster-paced than the music before.
Around 12:20 is when there’s a dynamic shift in the Symphony from louder music to softer and more controlled music. This sudden shift is the moment you can hear the violin more clearly, and it creates an emotional impact of subdued intensity and builds a sort of suspense about what’s to come next.
At almost exactly the 15 minute mark, Symphony 45 has a dynamic shift, from the almost hushed and gentle adagio to the fast and swelling allegretto, which is noticeably louder. This transition marks a sharp energy shift, from an almost contemplative tone to a livelier, almost more urgent mood. Referring back to the piece’s backstory that we learned about in class, you could speculate that this is symbolizing the shifts of the musicians’ moods–perhaps shifting from contemplating home in a wistful sort of manner during the adagio, then changing to a more urgent need to go home during the allegretto.
Instrumentation
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At 3:20 not only does the volume and tempo change but also the instrumentation changes as the woodwind section is not playing, only the string section. The change is instrumental, accompanied by the change in tempo and volume makes me feel almost at ease before the big return to the fast paced music seen before the change.
A moment from Symphony 45 when the instruments shift is around the 21 minute mark. The symphony starts out very fast and loud, with many instruments going all at once. But at this time in the symphony the pace changes to a slower more gentle one. The instruments start dropping one by one, until there are only few violins playing. The emotional impact of this is to make it feel smaller and more personal, draw the listener in so they become perhaps more emotional, left with a feeling of emptiness, sadness or peace. The mood prior was almost stressful, as there was much going on, but by stripping the instruments down at the end, this leaves the audience hollowed out.
Musical Key
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In the transition from the first movement of Symphony No. 45 to the second, (around 5:20), Joseph Haydn creates a striking emotional contrast by shifting from the opening key of F-sharp minor to A major early in the movement. Minor keys like F-sharp tend to sound tense, serious, or even uneasy, while major keys such as A major are perceived as brighter, calmer, and more hopeful. When Haydn moves to A major, the music feels like it opens up, going from sharp intensity to a smoother, more lyrical passage. This shift allows Haydn to create movement within the piece. By moving into a more ‘optimistic’ sound, he makes the eventual return to the darker key feel more dramatic and meaningful.