The Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

The New German School Progressive ideas and styles after 1850 “The music of the future” — a teleological view of the composer’s role in music history Freedom from convention – harmonic exploration – unconventional form – programmaticism Composers – Liszt, Berlioz (by adoption), Wagner

Wagner’s music dramas — theories and style The Artwork of the Future Gesamtkunstwerk — combines multiple art forms in multimedia “counterpoint” Based in folklore and mythology — represents values of the culture Libretto built on Germanic tradition — Stabreim Symphonic treatment of – themes (leitmotiv) – free motion of harmony – developmental texture

After Wagner — representative late Romantic composers and genres Vienna – Johannes Brahms (1833–1896) — symphony, chamber music, song – Anton Bruckner (1824–1896) — symphony, sacred music France – Charles Gounod (1818–1893) — lyric opera – César Franck (1822–1890) — symphony, organ music, chamber music Italian opera – Verdi

After Wagner — post–Romantic composers and genres Hugo Wolf (1860–1903) — song specialist Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) — song, symphony, vocal- orchestral cycle Richard Strauss (1864–1949) — tone poem, opera, song

Post–romantic opera — realism and verismo Characteristics – plots set among oppressed-class characters – violent endings – powerful, intense scorings – extreme demands on voice Some representative works – Georges Bizet, Carmen (1873–1874) – Pietro Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana (1890) – Ruggero Leoncavallo, I pagliacci (1892) – Giacomo Puccini, Il tabarro from Il trittico (1918)

Exoticism Attempt to reinvigorate music in the context of fin-de-siècle Europe Draws on style features from distant music cultures — e.g., – Eastern Europe — Gypsy culture – the Middle East – East Asia – Spain – the Americas Problems of orientalism – colonial appropriation – misrepresentation of “other” musicultures

Late nineteenth–century nationalism Patriotic expression by composers from suppressed cultures on the European periphery – Bohemia – Russia – Scandinavia – Spain – the Americas National materials – literary and folkloric sources – folk tunes or folk melody styles – dance rhythms – harmonic colorations — modal scales

Questions for discussion Wagner’s musical theories and works generated wide- ranging interest outside strictly musical circles. How can we explain this phenomenon? How did musical developments in France and Italy after 1850 reflect special situations and/or characteristic interests of those countries? How did the rise of national styles in the late nineteenth century resemble or differ from the rise of nationally distinct styles in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries? Would it be appropriate to refer to some developments in music of the late nineteenth century as mannerist? Why or why not?