Mass in D is a unique piece in that it is Dvořák’s only mass. Today, the work is seldom performed outside of Europe, and there are not many resources to consult that might shed light on this piece. The previous chapters provide in-depth analysis of the composition, some useful background for scholars and musicians, and a deeper investigation of the piece in its historical and aesthetic context.
Furthermore, the study summarizes the historical development of the Mass over the years 1887 to 1893, and the eleven published organ and orchestra versions over the last 109 years. This document also serves as a guide for conductors preparing to study or perform the repertoire, including useful references and background, and may help with selecting the appropriate version of the Mass based on choir formation and performance venue.
Finally, practical technical instructions and recommendations for coaching amateur choirs in performing the piece have been provided as a guideline for overcoming challenges in conducting these choirs.
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He is one of the most frequently-performed composers worldwide and the first to establish the concept of ‘Czech music’ in broad global associations. Following his popularity, today there is an increasing interest among musicians and music lovers who are interested in his less often-performed works. Mass in D is the only mass in Dvořák’s compositional output and is a piece that has great importance to Dvořák himself. This study provides a comprehensive study on the Mass for the benefit of scholars, musicians and conductors interested in exploring this hidden
“Agnus Dei” of Guillaume Machaut’s Notre Dame Mass and the “Kyrie” of Palestrina’s Pope Marcellus Mass is similar in that both have a polyphonic texture throughout the piece. The pieces have three different sections that repeat the same text. Both pieces also call forth the spirit of a Gregorian Chant. Not only are they polyphonic, but also they are part of the five sung prayers of the Ordinary Mass. Both pieces have inspired some of the greatest chorale work.
The famed Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak, was born in a Bohemian village of Czechoslovakia on September 8th, 1841 (Carlson & Smith, 154). After several years of living and learning music in his home village, eventually Dvorak moved to Prague at the age of 16 to continue his education in music. Pursuing his studies diligently, and after working various odd jobs, he eventually became a professor of music at the Prague Conservatory (Pogue & Speck, 64). While in Prague, he married his lovely wife Anna Cermakova in the November of 1873, and was happily married for the rest of his life to her (Encyclopedia Britannica). Performing all over Prague, eventually Dvorak’s incredible work was discovered by the famed composer Johannes Brahms, who recommended Dvorak to Brahms’ publisher Simrock. Simrock took to liking Dvorak’s works so much, that he agreed to publish works like the Moravian Duets in 1876, and the Slavonic Dances in 1878. These works
2. Name two important writers of literature (not musicians) from the Classical Period. ( 1 point)
These “higher forms of art” refer to German composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms who were always considered some of the top composers to musicologists all over the world. Here, Taruskin tries to explains to the readers that Dvorak didn’t compose his New World Symphony to be a purely “American” piece; he composed it piece to promote German musical colonialism!
Beethoven contributed one of the most significant musical developments through his fifth and ninth symphonies. He used a musical motive as the basic of his entire piece. (Beethoven described the motive as “Fate knocks at the door”.) It was the first time in history that anyone had done such a thing for a multi-movement piece. Beethoven’s contribution has become a norm in the music world, even to this day.
The conductor, Hector Guzman, was effective in leading the music in that whenever the piece called for dynamics, his movements told the musicians how much more or less it was needed. And also, Mr. Guzman did not just interact with the orchestra, but the chorus and vocal soloists as well. He seemed to be respected by his fellow musicians and gave the proper recognition to the soloists of the
The Renaissance period occurred from 1400-1600. It can be separated into third smaller periods. The early, middle, and the late period, but for the sake of this paper, they will be referred to as stages to avoid confusion. This paper will compare two composers one from the early stage and another from the late stage. The early stage composer will be John Dunstable, and the late stage composer will be Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. The purpose of this paper is to compare these two composers’ composition style through the analysis of two of their works.
The next movement of the concert from Czechoslovakia, Three Revolutionary Marches, began dramatic with leaps and high-range climaxes. The music of this piece perfectly portrays the
After Dvorak left the Organ School in 1859, he basically disappeared from the public eye for twelve years until 1871, which is when he emerged back into the public as a composer. For those twelve years he spent in seclusion, he was occupied with extensive writing in the classical form (8). To much grief and disappointment Dvorak’s first son died in September and his second daughter in October of 1877. These tragic losses were experienced within his grandiose oratorio “Stabat Mater.” For the next twenty years, Dvorak was invited to other European countries to conduct performances of his own works while enduring a struggling relationship with his publisher Hitherto Simrock (7).
The abundance of harmonies never loses the thread to his audience. Furthermore, the opening of the slow movement inspires the imagination and attention of its listeners. All these elements make this piece one of the most successful concertos in the musical history.
As noted by Robert Hughes, "Beethoven was not only the embodiment of all that was before him, but also of that which was yet to come" (Hughes 486). The truth of this may be seen by comparing Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C Minor to Haydn, the father of Symphony, and his 95th in C Minor. While Haydn's symphony is both playful and dramatic, Beethoven's symphony is grander both in terms of scale and vision. He expands the size of the orchestra to incorporate the sounds swirling around, underlying, and depicting the arrival of Fate in a rhythm-driven, thematic symphony that takes Haydn's form and runs with it as though to the top of a mountain peak. This paper will analyze the symphonies by movement, according to form, size, structure, tonalities, melodies, orchestral sound and overall mood and effect.
Chopin’s third sonata is a masterwork filled with pianistic elements, daring harmonies, experimental form, and a wealth of expressivity. In this four-movement work, references to other Chopin compositions and influences from fellow composers are found. At the same time, there is a progressive element; it looks forward to the heights which would be achieved by Chopin and later composers.
One of the greatest composers of music, even though it was only slightly notated at the time, was Guillaume de Machaut (d. 1377), “one of the undisputed pinnacle geniuses of Western music…” His most famous piece was the four-voice Mass of Notre Dame, which maintained his reputation through the changes in fashion (Roberge). After almost a millennium’s worth of music was composed and contributed, the style of music began to change with the next era.
Ludwig Van Beethoven was one of the most influential composers of his time. The decades around the 1800’s were years of many changes and Beethoven’s new approach to music was something that reflected that. “His symphonies, concertos, string quartets and piano sonatas are central to the repertory of classical music.” This essay will focus on the historical and theoretical aspects of the third movement of Sonata Op. 28 No. 15.
The early piano sonatas of Beethoven deserve special mention. Although his first published examples of concertos and trios and the first two symphonies are beneath the masterpieces of Mozart and Haydn, the piano sonatas bear an unmistakably Beethovian stamp: grandiose in scope and length, and innovative in their range of expression. The sonatas were able to move expression from terrible rage to peals of laughter to deep depression so suddenly. Capturing this unpredictable style in his music, a new freedom of expression which broke the bounds of Classical ideals, was to position Beethoven as a disturbed man in the minds of some of his contemporaries. Furthermore, he was to be seen as the father of Romanticism and the single most important innovator of music in the minds of those after him. (Bookspan 27).