The Importance of Function Over Form in the Classical Concerto

Sonatas composed from 1773 to 1784 were intended as “public” works from the very beginning, with a clear conception of the taste, preferences, and instruments available to the musical public of Vienna. The Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI: 23; L38 written in 1773 for solo harpsichord is the best known and most virtuosic of

Composers since the early classical era have used sonata form to express through music ideas which are at once complex and unified. This form contains a variety of themes and permutations of these themes, but is brought together into a comprehensible whole when these excerpts reappear. Beethoven, in the first movement of his Piano Sonata Opus 2 Number 3 utilizes this form to its full potential, modifying the typical structure in his characteristic way.

c)Formal and musical analysis with respect to the Concerto Form in the Classical Style (As a precursor of Romantic Age)

In the eighteenth century, reason and emotion no longer worked together. Emotion was kept down and was considered inferior. Social conventions were more important than individual convictions. In other words people considered form more significant than content. As regard art, this period was called Classical period. The opposite of this was slowly being prepared to burst out at the time of the French Revolution. This period was called Romantic.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are two of the greatest composers ever to write music. Both men lived in the early 18th and 19th century, but their music and influences are still felt today. The men faced similar experiences, yet they both lead very different lives. All together the pieces that these men composed amounts to over 300 published, and unpublished works of art. The people of their time period often had mixed feelings about these men, some “complained that Mozart’s music presented them with too many ideas and that his melodies moved from one to the next faster than audiences could follow, yet the ideas themselves seem effortless and natural, clear and

Since the Baroque era, the concerto has played a vital role in the music world. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a concerto is “a composition for one or more soloists and orchestra with three contrasting movements.” There are two main types: the concerto grosso and the classical concerto; both will be discussed later. While the term concerto is relatively easy to understand in context, when put into use the term becomes more complicated to define.

One of the problems clarinetists of the 21st century face when performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, K. 622, is creating a performance that is memorable while keeping the authentic integrity of the work. Many clarinetists who perform this work are often concerned with how they should the approach and execute the concerto. Any musician who tackles any new work will approach it by researching historical information on the composer and work, do a musical analysis, and gathering recordings of other interpretations of the same work. This approach will not only allow the performer to be fully immersed in the piece but allow for the performer to create a memorable interpretation.

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).

Orchestral concertos for trumpet serve as a substantial component to the trumpet repertoire. Some of the most notable composers have written for this genre ranging from Joseph Haydn to Henri Tomasi. Although orchestral concertos have had a lasting impact on the trumpet repertoire, concertos for trumpet and wind band are often overlook and underperform. There are many factors that have contribute to these circumstances one being the lack of performance opportunities in a professional setting. Unfortunately, there are not many performance opportunities for wind bands outside of public schools and universities settings. Therefore, these circumstances somewhat limit the reach to wide audiences. In addition, many of these pieces have yet to be recorded

During the Baroque period, there were two concepts of music: concerto and concerto grosso. A concerto was a piece written with a soloist and an orchestra, and a concerto grosso is a piece written for multiple soloist (Bonds). A concerto grosso was meant to pit a small group of soloists and the small orchestra against each other through sound. The soloists each have contrasting sounds that work together to have a different sound from the entire orchestra; for example, in Brandenburg Concerto no. 2, Bach uses to loudness of the trumpet and the highness of the oboe to contrast with the stringed instruments in the orchestra. The form of a concerto grosso is the ritornello principle (Bonds). This is the changing of sections of music between the

Thesis: Wolfgang Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor has been admired and analyzed numerous times. Although it has been criticized by many, I believe deeply interpreting this piece will aid in a better understanding of the music during the Classical

Even though the two pieces were composed in different centuries – Mozart’s piece in the 18th century and Strauss’ piece in the 20th century – some of the musical elements that they share transcend both time periods. The characteristics of music in the classical period had to do with the new view of human psychology. Mozart was one to introduce contrasting moods within movements or even within a theme. He was able to infuse strong contrasts of moods within the style of his music (Burkholder, Grout, & Palisca 475). In Figaro, Mozart includes an overture which is a piece in sonata form despite its lack of a development section. In Act I cavatina, “Se vuol ballare”, Mozart whimsically makes changes to the character of his music so as to correspond to Figaro’s machinations (Hambrik n.p). By doing so, he musically

Mozart’s music is very archetypal example of the Classical style of music.He liked to include the symphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintet, and the piano sonata. Central traits of the classical

Distinctive harmonic departure from the classical sonata form convention fills the movement with drama. In classical sonata form convention, tonality is to be established in the first theme with no ambiguity so as to make contrast with the second theme, which is normally set in the dominant. In the first movement of Beethoven’s sonata Op.31