Reflective Commentary for Part Four

Despite my initial reservations about the Classical period, this section of the course has largely proved to be the most interesting section so far.  The Manheim and Vienna ‘schools’ of music provided a great time of musical change, both in their style and audiences.  The break away from Patronage seemed to provide composers such as Mozart with the freedom and inspiration to begin composing pieces for the masses, containing more emotion and drama than pieces composed during the preceding era.   

The development of forms such as the sonata and symphony was possibly the beginning of providing a psychological perspective to the performance of music ensuring audiences were captured by their meticulously designed and ‘enlightened’ works.    In addition, the study of the structure of these forms helped me to gain a better ear for the pieces, enabling me to pick out significant features of the works I was listening to. 

My study of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.14 in C sharp major (1801) provided me with the opportunity to study a piece of music which has always been a favourite of mine.  It helped me to not only further enjoy the piece having gained more knowledge of its history, but also enabled me deconstruct the techniques of the composer.

Research into Haydn, Mozart, Clementi, and other composers of the time lead me to further understand their desire to revisit the classical style of simplicity.  It seems that it was in the pursuit of this that a great deal of homophony was used in compositions, underpinned by harmony giving dramatic and narrative elements.

However, it was perhaps the section of the classical opera that provided the biggest surprise for me.  Having stated clearly that I am not a fan of opera, I actually thoroughly enjoyed, and now feel a greater appreciation for, the form.    A study of pieces in both the opera-buffa and opera-seria genres, such a Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, I was able to gain a much deeper understanding of the ‘message’ of the composers.  The exercise of writing programme notes for Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice also helped me understand the simplicity of opera and the techniques put in place for a narrative ability. 

My final assignment comparing the works of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Prokofiev’s Symphony No.1 with the techniques of classical composers gave me the chance to apply my listening skills to some extremely well crafted pieces.  I was able identify numerous features between the two eras, and the composers’ contrasting styles presented two very different methodologies.  In addition, this assignment lead me to question links between modern and classical techniques in terms of psychology and appealing to wide audiences. 

As earlier mentioned, I found this section very enjoyable.  However, I must admit to finding it extremely tricky to follow the scores of some of the larger compositions.  Whilst I would consider myself quite competent at reading scores of up to 4 lines, when 12 or more were involved, with changing rhythmic structures, I became quite lost at times!  However, it did find the exercise beneficial as I was able to access the scores for both Pulcinella and Symphony No. 1 which aided me in identifying prominent classical features.