Mozart and Beethoven: the Baton Passes - Essay Example

?Franklin Roosevelt Frumplesnort Music 421 3 October Mozart and Beethoven: the Baton Passes To hear their s in conversation, you'dthink that no other composers exist at all in modern public life. People say flippantly: “Ooh I like Mozart's music”, only to never really delve into the joy, gaity, passion, and musical genius. With Ludwig von Beethoven, its likely even worse depending on who you talk to as most people are only vaguely familiar with a limited catalogue of works ranging from the open sequence of the Fifth sympthony, the theme of Fur Elise, and the Chorale sequences of the Ninth Symphony. The two composers are some of classical musics best and yet the comparisons and contrasts between them are stark and distinct. Mozart brought a playfulness to his themes which were immediately recognizable to his audience and even to be carried home after a performance they were so memorable. Beethoven brought a continued development of the thematic elements yet in his first, he stays to form and doesn't take risks staying within some unwritten guidelines it seems. In Mozart's 41st Symphony, called “Jupiter”, Mozart was at a time in his life where he was debt ridden and at the bottom of his popularity. Other composers had taken over as concert favorites, yet the piece is one of his richest and most dynamic. Beethoven First Symphony, on the other hand, occurs at the beginning of his tenure as a developing composer and his reverence for Mozart is clear in his writing and thematic elements. While the comparisons are real and will be highlighted here, the contrasts of Beethoven's further development are also noted as musical styles and critical evolution of the audience help to bring Beethoven's work to the precipice of the romantic era. It was however forward tonal development of Mozart which assists Beethoven's later works as we shall see. 1. Mozart and Symphony 40 At the end of his life, Mozart began many works, the three Great Symphonies among them. The penultimate final symphony is a grand work full of new material and an even more daring tonal experiment, atoniality. It is this subtle experiment which takes the symphony to levels far beyond works that were being written at the time. Mozart feels out the experiment is ways many listeners and musicians might never quite associate but it is there and announces what might have been had Mozart survived longer than his late 30's and what music might have become had he done so. The 40th Symphony is a work in 4 movements and the work overall stays true to Mozart's sonata form (exposition, development, and recapitulation). Oddly, he starts with no introduction stating the theme from the first notes. Further, he continues to use brass and percussion in militaristic form, emphasizing the tonic and tonal bases while playfully working around the edges in the movements with woodwinds and strings. It is around the development of the first and fourth movements that Mozart takes musical development far deeper than Beethoven's first symphonic work with maintains tonal emphasis while still yielding a work which is broad and rich. In the fourth, Mozart makes a daring move into atonality with his developmental elements displaying a chromaticism which wouldn't really be developed until Schoenberg in the 20th Century. The opening of the development is dynamic in that it ignores convention of tonal bases and its escape from tonal gravity allows it to set up a genuine tone row. The remainder of the fourth movement gradually returns to the tonal base and its mood is a return to one of uplifting sentiments and thematic restatements in the recapitulation (Einstein 1962). It is in this vein that the G Minor 40th set a standard of musical development that wouldn't be matched, in reality until Beethoven's later symphonic works and even his Concerto's. Mozart delves into tonal elements in the 40th which were dark and foreboding, yet in the ending deeply gratifying musically and emotionally (Einstein 1962). 2. Beethoven's First Symphony Far from being a first actual work, the first symphonic piece was sketched out in roughly 1794 and completed in 1800 and labelled as his Opus 21. Beethoven's 1st Symphony does have its boldness and is not a fluff work at all, in fact, it begins with an introduction in which the first notes were a c minor 7th chord resolving to F major chord. By convention, almost all composers including Mozart, had stated the piece with an initial statement of the tonal base to orient the listener. Beethoven ignored that and starts with an introduction which is an enlarged cadence to lead into the C major base upon which the piece is based. Following the 12 bar opening the movement flourishes with the theme and grounds itself into the tonic. Furthermore, his development section begins abruptly A major while expanding to D, G, and C minor in its first measures; later sections are developed in B-flat, E-flat, and A minor. Quite a break from traditional tonal convention whereby the dominant developing chord structure was based around the fifth or in this case, G major or minor. Beethoven takes second thematic elements to a new level when he take elemental scraps in the slow movement into the development. This allowed him to progress onward to an ostinato figure which was heard in the first part of the movement and utilize those thematic pieces as source material and expands the movement. (Score 1800) The finale movement starts out in slow fashion even harkening to the opening movements thematic element. However, this dirge is short lived and the fast pace of the movement begins only 6 bars into it. The mood alters and is bright and quick with the theme being stated right from that point. The C major tonality is emphasized and Beethoven's use of minor chromaticism in neighboring notes is shown for the first time in his symphonic work, one which will be used many times as Mozart did his own signature elements throughout his compositions. The work ends with rapid string flourishes which highlight their skill and use of the winds to answer them as well as militaristic brass/percussion and brief moments of pause and silence to set up the grand finale and final emphatic coda ending. (Score 1800) 3. Conclusion I find that I preferred Mozart's work to Beethoven's early work even though it was a great start to a tremendous body of work musically. Mozart's expansion of tonal bases gives us a small glimpse into his ideas and desires to stretch beyond the boundaries set by audiences of his day. It is conceivable that given his progress in the 41st symphony and Requiem Mass, his work might have progressed into elemental Romantic style in another few years given better health and financial situations. It is well known that Mozart was impoverished in his last years and his debt forced him to write “Magic Flute” for portions of the ticket receipts. It was a smashing success, it should be noted. His output in this time was extensive and far from congealed into a mass of repetitive themes, the symphonies, opera's and choral works are distinct and unique and all reveal a genius that Hayden said would not be found for another 100 years. He might have been wrong...we might never see it again. The 40th symphony is bold and daring, ventures far beyond even Beethoven's first symphonic work in its tonal scope and musical thematic development. The Beethoven First is a nice work, but in the end, it still is not up to the grandeur that is found in Mozart's penultimate symphonic work. Resources Used Einstein, Alfred et al. Mozart. 22nd Ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1962. Print. Beethoven, Ludwig Von. Symphony In C Major. Vienna: Kalmus, 1800. William and Gayle Cook Music Library. Web. 3 Oct. 2011. . Read More