Miss Jacobson's Music: MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015

Monday, May 4, 2015

MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015

QUOTE:

"The effect of music is so very much more powerful and penetrating
than is that of the other arts, for these others speak only of the
shadow, but music of the essence."

AUTHOR: A rthur Schopenhauer,
The World as Will and Representation

(1819) Vol. I, Ch. II

MEANING OF THE QUOTE:

"The vibrations of music effect the inner recesses

of our souls more so than in any other art form."

COMPOSER

PROKOFIEV

SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN D MAJOR
'CLASSICAL' OP. 25
Claudio Abbado, Conductor
London Symphony Orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3R_NBfO9

Nw&x-yt-ts=1421828030&x-yt-cl=84411374

I. Allegro 0:02
II. Larghetto 3:50
III. Gavotte: Non troppo allegro 8:09
IV. Finale: Molto vivace 9:40

SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN D MAJOR
'CLASSICAL' OP. 25

(With Music Notation)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLT55kPIFCo

I. Allegro 00:00

II. Larghetto 04:25

III. Gavotta 08:33

IV. Finale: Molto Vivace 10:02

SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN D MAJOR

'CLASSICAL' OP. 25

I. Allegro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW8Rc41d5lM

1st Movement, 1st Theme

SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN D MAJOR

'CLASSICAL' OP. 25

II. Larghetto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DjDzB37VaQ

http://www.ncsymphony.org/mediacenter/

2014-15%20teacher%20book%20FINAL.pdf

SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN D MAJOR

'CLASSICAL' OP. 25
III. Gavotta: Non troppo allegro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O--R0WbCBVQ

3rd Movement 1st Theme

http://www.annapolishighschool.org/ourpages/auto/2014/4/10/58687560/movement_3.pdf

SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN D MAJOR

'CLASSICAL' OP. 25

IV. Finale: Molto vivace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZeUW0fgDYk

4th Movement 1st Theme

4th Movement 2nd Theme

This symphony is scored for a classical
period orchestra consisting of
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings

INFORMATION FROM:
Madison Symphony Orchestra Program Notes

http://facstaff.uww.edu/allsenj/MSO/NOTES/1213/1.Sep12.html
By Michael Allsen
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
CLASSICAL SYMPHONY, OP.25
(SYMPHONY NO.1)

http://www.museum.ru/N38372

Prokofiev composed this work in 1916-17,
completing the score on September 10, 1917.
He conducted the premiere in St. Petersburg

(Petrograd), on April 21, 1918.
Duration 15:00.

During his student days at the
St. Petersburg Conservatory

and as a young composer/pianist,
Prokofiev was considered to be something
of a radical and an enfant terrible. Frightfully
talented and more than a bit arrogant, the
young Prokofiev battled with his teachers
and the press, who labeled his music
"ultra-modern" and "unintelligible." Despite
his radical musical ideas, however, he held
a deep reverence for the formal clarity of
18th-century music, particularly the
symphonies of Haydn,

and his first symphony shows is a unique
blend of Classical-period forms with
his own style.

http://www.violinexcerpts.com/prokofiev-classical-symphony-mvt-i-page-1/

Prokofiev brought the Classical Symphony
with him when he left Russia in 1918 and
it was enthusiastically received everywhere
he went; it has remained his single

most popular work.

Regarding the symphony's composition and un-

usual style, Prokofiev wrote in his autobiography:

"I spent the summer of 1917 in the country near

St. Petersburg all alone, reading Kant

Philosopher: Immanuel Kant

and working a great deal. I deliberately left

my piano behind, as I wished to try

composing without it...

I had been toying with the idea of writing

an entire symphony in this manner; I

believed that the orchestra would thus

sound more natural...

It seemed to me that, had Haydn lived in

our own day, he would have retained his

own style, while accepting something of

the new at the same time. That was the

kind of symphony I wanted to write: a

symphony in the classical style.

When I saw that my idea was beginning

to work, I began to call it the Classical

Symphony; in the first place, because it

was simpler, and secondly for the fun of it...

and in the secret hope that I would prove

to be right if the symphony really did

turn out to be a 'classic.'

I composed the symphony in my head

during walks in the country."

The end result of this mental exercise was a
little jewel of a symphony; four movements in
the space of 15 minutes. Prokofiev uses
Classical forms in each of the movements,
and he also uses a small, Haydnesque
orchestra: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets,
bassoons, trumpets, and horns, with
timpani and strings.

The opening movement (Allegro) is a miniature
sonata form, based upon two main ideas. The
first of these is heard immediately in the strings.
The second main theme has the violins playing
large, deliberately awkward leaps (ironically
marked "with elegance!") above a walking bass
line in the bassoons. Although the form follows
Haydn's textbook throughout, there are many
quirky turns of harmony that clearly show
that this is a work of the 20th century,
rather than the 18th.

The slow movement (Larghetto) has a simple
three-part form. The opening section is
dominated by a graceful melody played by the
violins. The central section is more active,
beginning with quick, rising lines in the
woodwinds. At the end, Prokofiev blends
these two contrasting characters together.
In a Haydn symphony, the third movement is
typically a Minuet; a courtly, triple-meter
dance. In the Classical Symphony, Prokofiev
reaches even further back into the 18th
century, and sets his third movement as a
Gavotte (Non troppo allegro). This energetic
Baroque dance

Gavotte

is characterized by strong upbeats, and
Prokofiev makes the most of its rustic grace.
Just as we expect the final cadence of the
gavotte, he launches unexpectedly into the
final movement (Molto vivace). Here,
Prokofiev returns to sonata form, working
through the form in a terse way that makes
the most of a series of light-footed themes.
There is a tiny but intense development of
these ideas at the center, before a short
recapitulation and blazing coda.

CLASSICAL SYMPHONY

ANALYSIS #1