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The Classical Period Task Booklet

The document outlines tasks related to the Classical Period of music, including watching videos and answering questions about notable composers like Beethoven and Mozart. It covers historical context, musical concepts, and specific compositions, encouraging research on a selected composer. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of understanding musical elements and the influence of historical events on composers' works.

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lewish5909
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5 views

The Classical Period Task Booklet

The document outlines tasks related to the Classical Period of music, including watching videos and answering questions about notable composers like Beethoven and Mozart. It covers historical context, musical concepts, and specific compositions, encouraging research on a selected composer. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of understanding musical elements and the influence of historical events on composers' works.

Uploaded by

lewish5909
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Classical Period

Task 1:
Watch this clip: (9) A Brief Overview of Classical Era Music -
YouTube
and answer the questions below:

1. When was the Classical Period?

2. What was it known as?

3. Name two historical events that took place over this time:

4. What does the term patronage mean?

5. What was the main instrument to develop during the Classical


Period?

6. What is a solo concerto?

7. Name two interesting facts about music in the Classical Period.


Task 2:
Watch this talented singer harmonise with himself and sing in a variety of
styles across the history of Western music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S5wiYzlrwo

While you’re watching, count how many different composers


names you hear

............

Task 3:
Composer Study:
Beethoven
Classical composer Ludwig van
Beethoven suffered hearing loss,
leading to his complete deafness.
Yet he was still able to compose
masterpieces of music.

How did Beethoven go


deaf?
“For the last three years my hearing has grown steadily weaker...” - so
wrote Beethoven, aged 30, in a letter to a friend.

The young Beethoven was known as the most important musician since
Mozart. By his mid-20s, he had studied with Haydn and was celebrated as
a brilliant, virtuoso pianist.

By the time he turned 30 he had composed a couple of piano concertos,


six string quartets, and his first symphony. Everything was looking good
for the young musician, with the prospect of a long, successful career
ahead.
Then, he started to notice a buzzing sound in his ears - and everything
was about to change.

How old was Beethoven when he started


losing his hearing?
Around the age of 26, Beethoven began to hear that ringing and buzzing
in his ears. In 1800, aged 30, he wrote from Vienna to a childhood friend -
by then working as a doctor in Bonn - saying that he had been suffering
for some time:

“For the last three years my hearing has grown steadily weaker. I can give
you some idea of this peculiar deafness when I must tell you that in the
theatre I have to get very close to the orchestra to understand the
performers, and that from a distance I do not hear the high notes of the
instruments and the singers’ voices… Sometimes too I hardly hear people
who speak softly. The sound I can hear it is true, but not the words. And
yet if anyone shouts I can’t bear it.”

Beethoven tried to keep news of the problem secret from those closest to
him. He feared his career would be ruined if anyone realised.

“For two years I have avoided almost all social gatherings because it is
impossible for me to say to people ‘I am deaf”,” he wrote. ‘If I belonged to
any other profession it would be easier, but in my profession it is a
frightful state.”

Beethoven could apparently still hear some speech and music until 1812.
But by the age of 44, he was almost totally deaf and unable to hear voices
or so many of the sounds of his beloved countryside. It must have been
devastating for him.
Beethoven Listening Task: Symphony No. 5
Listen to Beethoven’s famous 5th Symphony
until 1.32 and answer the questions below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRgXUFnfKIY

Questions:
1. How many notes make up the opening motif (musical
idea)?

2. How does the opening of this symphony make you feel?

3. Name as many instruments as you can hear:


4. Describe the following (bonus points for using Italian
terms):

Tempo (speed):
Dynamics (louds/softs):
Tonality (Major/minor):

5. Where does the first main idea change (give time)? How
does it change (describe)?

Task 4: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart


(11) 10 Mozart Pieces You've Heard And Don´t Know The Name - YouTube

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was one of the most influential,


popular and prolific composers of the classical period. He composed over
600 works, including some of the most famous and loved pieces of
symphonic, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Mozart was born in
Salzburg, Austria, to a musical family.

From an early age, the young Mozart showed all the signs of a prodigious
musical talent. By the age of 5 he could read and write music, and he
would entertain people with his talents on the keyboard. By the age of 6
he was writing his first compositions. Mozart was generally considered to
be a rare musical genius, though Mozart said that he was diligent in
studying other great composers such as Haydn and Bach.

Do you recognise this tune? (11) Mozart: 12 Variations "Ah, vous dirai-je,
maman" KV 265 (Clara Haskil) - YouTube
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………

Listen to Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music) and


describe below:

(11) Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik: McGill Symphony Orchestra Montreal


conducted by Alexis Hauser - YouTube

Timbre:

Tempo:

Dynamics:

Tonality:

The History of Western Music


Research Assignment
Research a composer from the list below and include your findings in a
Powerpoint which you will present to the class. You may work individually
or in pairs.

Choose ONE composer to research:

Composers:

 Ludwig van Beethoven


 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 Johann Sebastian Bach
 Frederic Chopin
 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
 Johannes Brahms
 Antonio Vivaldi
Your research must include the following information:

1. Brief biography of the composer (show on a map where they were


from).
2. What was happening historically at the time they lived.
3. A description of their music and how it fits within the period they
lived (eg. Baroque, Classical, Romantic etc).
4. Who or what influenced them?

5. Two pieces of music the composer wrote and include the following:
o Names of the pieces
o Describe the elements of music (tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture,
tonality, form)
o What you like or find interesting about the piece/s.
o Please include a brief audio excerpt for the class to listen to.

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