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Notes on video lecture:
The Tonic, the Dominant, and Sonata Form
Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on January 30, 2015 (go to class or lectures)


Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
home, dominant, rules, invent, Bach, relationship, psychology, academic, resolve, dry, shape, effect, emotional, grammar, listener, first, Rosen, focus, Beethoven, minuet, prosaic, Haydn, analysis, major, 5th, dominant, classical
form
necessary when discussing the of music
people hear form or analysis in a musical context and they tend to think of something
form is indeed about
and about the and construction of music
it is ultimately all about
not just the way the music is put together or works
but the way it works on the
to study the musical structure is to create a map of the content of a piece of music
it's no accident that work on harmony and form is called
Charles
books
Sonata Forms
The Classical Style
better to understand the sonata culture
explains the sources of the power in classical music
"the sonata is not a definite form like a , a da capo aria, or a French overture, it is, like the fugue, a way of writing, a feeling for proportion, direction and texture, rather than a pattern. This is why it was able to encompass such a wide variety of music and why it is so difficult to speak about clearly. It was also difficult to create. 's music, while it involves certain harmonic relationships which become crucial in the classical style, is in very clear cut ways different, pre- . And after he died, there was a period of at least fifteen years before the new style asserted itself. It's not a coincidence that after Bach's death, well over a decade passed before , the next great composer, started writing great music. And from that point on, with Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, there's always significant overlap and a non-stop stream of masterpieces being written. The classic style was slow to come into , but once it did it almost immediately became the basis for much of the most extraordinary music ever. Many people, and not just hopelessly conservative ones, feel that the classical era, a.k.a. the heyday of sonata form, is the pinnacle of Western music.
so sonata form was difficult to
was also in a constant state of evolution
even before , composers were constantly testing the limits of the form, seeing if it could accommodate more material, different harmonic centers, tinkering with order of events
rare animal
neither primarily a pianist or an
perhaps the most well-rounded and most seen musicians ever
sonata form
does not refer to the of an entire sonata
but to a single movement
it is the movement on which this structural attention is usually lavish
the story of two oppositions
the opposition of two themes
the opposition of the tonic and the
these are harmonic terms
tonic
the fundamental chord of whatever key we happen to be in
if we are in the key of B-flat major, the tonic is a B-flat chord
dominant
the chord that begins on the scale degree
for the key of B-flat major, this is the F-chord
it is the central fact of tonal music that the dominant chord always wants to to the tonic chord
it may sound but that is really what all classical tonality is about
everything else is an embellishment of that tonic
we start at home, the tonic, then we move away from home, traditionally always the , and the tension in the work from that point on involves our emotional need for a return
Spelling Corrections:
pinnicle ⇒ pinnacle
heydey ⇒ heyday
accomodate ⇒ accommodate
Ideas and Concepts:
Book tip via tonight's Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas class: "This book is endlessly engrossing, you cannot come away from it without understanding many of the main differences between and among Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and between Classical, Baroque, and Romance music, and with a good understanding of why these three great Viennese exponents were such masters. For those who believe that creative genius is stimulated by severe suffering (Beethoven, Van Gogh in art, Godel in mathematical logic, Galileo in physics and astronomy, etc.), you will find much material in this book that seems to indicate the accuracy of this theory more or less. However, if you don't know the music from that period and you can't read music, this will leave you seriously lost. In other words, you need some background or you will need to do some serious listening to really get the jewels out of this book. If this sounds elitist to you, you are right. Yet it is done with the purpose of keeping you from wasting your money. So make sure you have some background or are willing to do some work if you expect to get the best this book has to offer."

On the significance of sonata form in the classical era, via this evening's Exploring Beethoven's Sonatas class:
"The sonata is not a definite form like a minuet, a da capo aria, or a French overture. It is, like the fugue, a way of writing, a feeling for proportion, direction and texture, rather than a pattern. This is why it was able to encompass such a wide variety of music and why it is so difficult to speak about clearly.
And it was also difficult to create. Bach's music, while it involves certain harmonic relationships which become crucial in the classical style, is in very clear cut ways different, or pre-classical. After he died, there was a period of at least fifteen years before the new style asserted itself. It's not a coincidence that after Bach's death, well over a decade passed before Haydn, the next great composer, started writing great music.
And from that point on, with Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, there's significant overlap and a non-stop stream of masterpieces being written. The classic style was slow to come into focus, but once it did, it almost immediately became the basis for much of the most extraordinary music ever produced. Many people, and not just hopelessly conservative ones, feel that the classical era, a.k.a. the heyday of sonata form, is the pinnacle of Western music."
"The sonata is not a definite form like a minuet, a da capo aria, or a French overture. It is, like the fugue, a way of writing, a feeling for proportion, direction and texture, rather than a pattern. This is why it was able to encompass such a wide variety of music and why it is so difficult to speak about clearly.
And it was also difficult to create. Bach's music, while it involves certain harmonic relationships which become crucial in the classical style, is in very clear cut ways different, or pre-classical. After he died, there was a period of at least fifteen years before the new style asserted itself. It's not a coincidence that after Bach's death, well over a decade passed before Haydn, the next great composer, started writing great music.
And from that point on, with Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, there's significant overlap and a non-stop stream of masterpieces being written. The classic style was slow to come into focus, but once it did, it almost immediately became the basis for much of the most extraordinary music ever produced. Many people, and not just hopelessly conservative ones, feel that the classical era, a.k.a. the heyday of sonata form, is the pinnacle of Western music."
The structure of classical tonality in a nutshell via tonight's Exploring Beethoven's Sonatas class:
"The tonic chord is the fundamental chord of whatever key we happen to be in. If we are in the key of B-flat major, the tonic is a B-flat major chord. The dominant chord begins on the 5th scale degree, or the fifth note, of the tonic chord, so for the key of B-flat major, this is the F-chord.
It is the central fact of tonal music that the dominant chord always wants to resolve to the tonic chord. It may sound prosaic but that is really what all classical tonality is about. Everything else is an embellishment of that tonic relationship:we start at home, the tonic, then we move away from home, traditionally always to the dominant, and the tension in the work from that point on involves our emotional need for a return home."
"The tonic chord is the fundamental chord of whatever key we happen to be in. If we are in the key of B-flat major, the tonic is a B-flat major chord. The dominant chord begins on the 5th scale degree, or the fifth note, of the tonic chord, so for the key of B-flat major, this is the F-chord.
It is the central fact of tonal music that the dominant chord always wants to resolve to the tonic chord. It may sound prosaic but that is really what all classical tonality is about. Everything else is an embellishment of that tonic relationship:we start at home, the tonic, then we move away from home, traditionally always to the dominant, and the tension in the work from that point on involves our emotional need for a return home."
