Week Six Activities
Romantic Art Song (Lied)
Listen to the following pieces. Either from your book or just head to YouTube.
1. Frederic Chopin, “Nocturne in E Flat Major”
2. Frederic Chopin, “Etude in C Minor (Revolutionary Etude)”
3. Franz Liszt, “Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor”
Question 1: Piano character pieces commonly depict one specific mood or “character.” Read about the conditions surround each of these pieces. What is the “character” or “subject” depicted in each piece? How did the composer create each image/subject musically? Name as many types of musical style techniques as you can for each example.
Romantic Program Symphony – “Grandiose”
The Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique provides a spectacular example of the “grandiose” genre of program symphony. You can read the “program” that Berlioz provided for Symphonie Fantastique here http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/fantas.htm. Listen to the first and last movement of the symphony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HgqPpjIH5c Reflect and compare this symphony with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 (We listened to first and second movement in class last week)
Question 2: How is your experience with the Symphonie Fantastique similar or different? How do you feel about knowing the “program” of this piece as opposed to being allowed to come up with your own imagery or story? How is the instrumentation different/same? Which one did you enjoy more and why?
