Page 164 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

listening Cue
Franz Joseph Haydn, String Quartet, Opus 76, No. 3, the “Emperor” Quartet (1797) Download 26 Second movement, Poco adagio cantabile (rather slow, song-like)
Genre: String quartet
Form: Theme and variations
what to listen for: Emperor’s theme (0:00) followed by four variations in which the second violin (1:20), cello (2:29), viola (3:47), and first violin (5:04) present the theme
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ReAD . . . a detailed Listening Guide of this selection online. LiSTeN TO . . . this selection streaming online.
WATCH . . . an Active Listening Guide of this selection online. WATCH . . . a video of this selection online.
DO . . . Listening Exercise 9.2, Haydn, “Emperor” Quartet, online.
The popularity of “The Emperor’s Hymn” did not end with the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 or the death of Emperor Franz II in 1835. So alluring is Haydn’s melody that with altered text it became a Protestant hymn and then the national anthem of Austria (1853). The Germans also embraced it as their national anthem (1922); when Germany wins a medal at the Olympics or an international soccer (football) match, you will hear it.
Haydn liked it, too. It was his favorite piece, and he played a piano arrange- ment of “The Emperor’s Hymn” every night before retiring. In fact, this was the last music Haydn played before he died in the early hours of May 31, 1809.
The Sonata
Most children who study a Western musical instrument (piano, flute, violin, or cello, for example) will play a sonata at one time or another. A sonata (Italian for “something to be sounded”) is a genre of chamber music played on a solo in- strument or a solo instrument accompanied by piano. Although it originated at the beginning of the Baroque period, the sonata took its definitive shape during the Classical era. The usual format was three movements (fast-slow-fast), and each movement might be in any one of the preferred Classical forms: sonata–al- legro, ternary, rondo, or theme and variations.
According to publishers’ inventories from the end of the eighteenth century, more sonatas were printed than any other genre of music. The explanation for this sudden vogue is tied to the equally sudden popularity of the piano. Indeed, the word sonata has become so closely associated with the piano that unless
chapter nine classical genres
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