As this semester drew to a close, I had put far too much effort into all of the various papers I had to write to just have them sit on a shelf. So I am posting most of them here. I am backdating them so they fit in the flow as they were written. Here… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Music Theory Assignments
Theory III Listening Assignment – Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration)
Richard Strauss was born in Munich, Germany in 1864. His father, an excellent horn player, provided a comprehensive musical education to the young Richard. He was influenced early by the music of Richard Wagner, thus elements of Wagner’s style pervade Strauss’s music. His two primary compositional genres were Opera and Tone Poems. He was a… Read more »
Theory III Listening Assignment – Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” – 5th Movement
Gustav Mahler was born in Kaliště, Bohemia in 1860. His musical talent was apparent early, and he graduated from the Vienna Conservatory in 1878. A part time composer, his primary livelihood was derived from conducting opera and concerts. He wrote many art songs and nine symphonies, leaving a tenth incomplete. His music stretched tonality, but… Read more »
Theory III Listening Assignment – Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, Op. 95 “New World”
In 1841, Antonin Dvorak was born in the Bohemian village of Nelahozeves near Prague. He was influenced by German harmonic tradition, writing symphonies that were based on Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Brahms. He also explored elements of his own culture, becoming one of foremost Bohemian nationalist composers. In the late 1800s, he came to the United… Read more »
Theory III Listening Assignment – Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178
Franz Liszt was born in Hungary in 1811, but lived most of his life in Paris, moving there as a teen. He was a huge success as a concert pianist and is still considered one of the greatest pianists since the instrument’s invention. In his thirties, he retired from concertizing and focused on composition. He… Read more »
Theory III Listening Assignment – Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor
Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway in 1843. He studied piano from the age of six, and by his late teens he had enrolled in the Conservatory at Leipzig. His music was a synthesis of traditional German harmonic theory, and Norwegian elements, such as modal melodies and Hardinger Fiddle. He died in 1907. Grieg’s… Read more »
Theory III Listening Assignment – Schumann’s Dichterliebe
Robert Schumann was born in Zwickau, Saxony on June 8th, 1810. From age 7, he studied piano and composition. However, due to a worsening weakness in his right hand, he gave up piano and focused on composition and music criticism. In 1840 he married concert pianist Clara Wieck and had eight children. Two years before… Read more »
Theory III Listening Assignment – Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique
The French composer Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was one of the earliest composers following Beethoven to typify the romantic era. As a young man, he played several instruments and wanted to be a composer. However, his parents insisted that he study medicine. He hated medical school and eventually left it… Read more »
Theory II Listening Assignment – Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770. His works are traditionally divided into three periods. In his early period, he focused on imitating classical style, although his personal characteristics of darker pieces, motivic development, and larger forms are already evident or foreshadowed. In his middle period, he is beginning to go deaf,… Read more »
Theory II Listening Assignment – Mozart’s 40th Symphony
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756. His musical talent was noticed very early, and his father, Leopold Mozart, taught him music theory and how to play the keyboard and violin. He toured Europe with his father, playing for many royal families. On this tour, he absorbed many national styles of music… Read more »