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Sinfonia No.

55
Der Schulmeister
E flat major
Joseph Haydn
Classical period

The dates of the Classical period in Western music are generally accepted as
being between about 1750 and 1820. However, the term classical music is used
in a colloquial sense as a synonym for Western art music, which describes a
variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and
especially from the sixteenth or seventeenth to the nineteenth.
The classical period or era was a time in history the Baroque period, and when
Western music really started to properly develop and evolve from the
foundations of Baroque music into what it is today, an extremely complicated
but amazing system of creating, listening, playing music.
Also during this time, the first Viennese school was set up. The First Viennese
School is a name mostly used to refer to three composers of the Classical
period in late-18th-century Vienna: W. A. Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. Franz
Schubert is occasionally added to the list.
Classical Period Composers

This is a list of some of the most influential classical era composers:


Carl Phillip Emmanual Bach (1714-1788)
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Christoph Willibald (von) Gluck (1714-1787)
Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1792)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Classical Period Characteristics

Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex. It
is mainly homophonicmelody above chordal accompaniment (but counterpoint by no
means is forgotten, especially later in the period). It also make use of style galant in
the classical period which was drawn in opposition to the strictures of the Baroque
style, emphasizing light elegance in place of the Baroque's dignified seriousness and
impressive grandeur
Variety and contrast within a piece became more pronounced than before. Variety of keys,
melodies, rhythms and dynamics (using crescendo, diminuendo and sforzando), along with
frequent changes of mood and timbre were more commonplace in the Classical period than
they had been in the Baroque. Melodies tended to be shorter than those of Baroque music,
with clear-cut phrases and clearly marked cadences. The orchestra increased in size and
range; the harpsichord continuo fell out of use, and the woodwind became a self-contained
section. As a solo instrument, the harpsichord was replaced by the piano (or fortepiano).
Early piano music was light in texture, often with Alberti bass accompaniment, but it later
became richer, more sonorous and more powerful.
Franz Joseph Haydn

Born: March 31, 1732, Rohrau, Austria


Died: May 31, 1809, Vienna, Austria
Full name: Franz Joseph Haydn
Spouse: Maria Anna Aloysia Apollonia Keller (m. 17601800)
Compositions: The Creation, Symphony No. 45, Symphony No. 94 and many more
Children: Alois Anton Nikolaus Polzelli
(Franz) Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 31 May 1809) was a prominent and prolific composer of the Classical period.
He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical
form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".
Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterhzy family at their remote estate. Until
the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it,
"forced to become original". At the time of his death, aged 77, he was one of the most celebrated composers in
Europe.
Sinfonia No.55 (1774)
Der Schulmeister
A central characteristic of Haydn's music is the development of larger structures out of very short,
simple musical motifs, often derived from standard accompanying figures. The music is often quite
formally concentrated, and the important musical events of a movement can unfold rather quickly.
Der Schulmeister is composed of 4 movements:
Allegro di molto, -Sonata form
Adagio ma semplicemente, 2/4 in B-flat major-Theme and variations
Menuetto & trio, -The trio of the Menuetto is scored for solo cello and two solo violins
Finale: Presto, 2/4-The trio of the Menuetto is scored for solo cello and two solo violins
H. C. Robbins Landon notes that while Haydn's autograph manuscript of the symphony contains no
reference to this title, the work has been known by this name since the early nineteenth century.
Landon suggests that the dotted rhythm of the second movement calls to mind the wagging finger of
a schoolmaster, and points out that in the catalogue of his works that Haydn helped prepare in the
final years of his life, there is a fragment of a lost Divertimento in D containing a similar dotted
rhythm entitled "Der verliebte Schulmeister" (the schoolmaster in love).
Instrumentation

Der Schulmeister was composed by Haydn for:


2 oboes-key of c
2 faggotti-key of c
2 corni-key of E flat (easiest key for brass to play in)-read score as if in bass
clef
Violins 1 + 2-key of c
Violas-key of c
Cello + Double bass-key of c
Structure and Form
Der Schulmeister 1st movement was composed by Haydn in the reasonably
basic Sonata form
The structure/themes go as follows:
Theme a=1-22 Transition=22-43 theme b=43-61 coddetta=61-67
Development:67-152 recap theme 1=152-186 bridge=186-193 theme b=193-
204
Coda=204-216
The entire symphony is a total of 21 minutes long whilst the 1 st movement
itself is only around 5mins and 25secs in length
Exposition
1st subject group 1-22
1/2 Full orchestra (although not listed, a bassoon is to be assumed as doubling the cello part in loud
passages, not always present or clearly audible in all recordings); an opening call-to-attention with
strong, rhythmic, tonic chords. (Forte)
2-6: Strings only, gentle, melodic 4-bar phrase, legato, p
6-10: Full orchestra, more forceful and rhythmic, unison repetition of tonic, F,
Then staccato drive to a perfect cadence in the dominant-an early deviation from the standard
plan
10-13: Full orchestra, punchy rhythm, (but with an effective beats silence i.e. the first beat of the
bar is no longer held as a minim as in 7), unison reiteration of the dominant note, harmonised the
last time to point back to the tonic (the function of the A flat); F
13-14:1st/2nd violins; the previous chord reduced to a faint echo, PP
14-18: Restatement of 2-6
18-22: Full orchestra, rounding off cadence in tonic; p
Transition (22-43)

22-29: Strings unison tremolo, The music is clearly travelling but does not
begin to suggest its likely destination until:
29-36: Full orchestra; harmonised over a repeated quaver F as bass pedal
which will become the dominant of the new key almost reluctant to let go
of A but driving forward, legato, P with f
36-43: Full orchestra-louder-strings, strings tremolo, move to dominant key
2nd subject
(43-61)
43/44: 2nd violins; continue the bass F quaver pedal to make a seamless link;
p
45-54: strings (2nd violin continuing its quaver F); lyrical; harmonised The
1stviolins figure in 47/48 is repeated (49/50) with its 2nd bar compressed
rhythmically to allow repetition of the staccato 3-note figure (derived
from 47), this also repeated before a 2nd note is added (52/53),giving
continuous movement and increasing urgency. Haydn has already started
developing his material.
54-61: Full orchestra; explosive interruption; unison but 1st and 2nd violins
interpolatewide leaps up to the dominant note (now the new tonic)
finished off with strong perfect cadence.

Not start of theme B


Codetta
(61-66)
Based entirely on a new tonic chord-B flat major
Violins introduce a new rhythm
This rhythm features early on in the development and also gives the game
away when Haydn creates a false recap at b97
Development
(67-152)
This section is the longest part of the 1st movement
It starts at the double bar and is based on the G7 chord (dom of c minor)
This then follows through into Theme A again except this time in c minor
before moving dramatically to the key of D major which fits parallel alongside
the sudden codetta theme entry
After a few bars there is a repeat of the opening exposition bars at b97
For 6 bars this repetition appears to be a standard recapitulation
However, Haydn then modulates away from the tonic which ties in with an
unexpected return of the codetta theme
An extende development theme section follows beforea dominant pedal
prepares us for the recap.
Recapitulation
(152-216)
This is quite straightforward and is mainly just a reworking of the exposition
with both themes being played in the tonic key
However there is a slight creative touch of Haydn by the rescoring of them A
for violin 2 and violas
There is no coda
Thank you

Created by
Finn and Owen

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