THE INFLUENCE OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SOCIAL DANCE ON THE VIENNESE CLASSICAL STYLE (AUSTRIA).
Item
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Title
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THE INFLUENCE OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SOCIAL DANCE ON THE VIENNESE CLASSICAL STYLE (AUSTRIA).
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Identifier
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AAI8501166
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identifier
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8501166
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Creator
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REICHART, SARAH BENNETT.
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Contributor
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Siegmund Levarie
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Date
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1984
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music
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Abstract
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The idea that most classical music is based on dance rhythms has become a truism. Previous attempts to explore the eighteenth-century dance repertoire, based on theoretical sources, have led, however, to misjudgment or error. A new approach based on eighteenth-century dance materials leads to a clarification of national dance styles and national tune types. The existence of such a national typology has not been hitherto reported, and the precise formulation of such dance types has not been previously shown. The present study proceeds to demonstrate how elements of popular social dances were incorporated into the art music of the Viennese classical composers, to show that this practice was pervasive, and, by examining a few select cases, to confirm intentionality on the part of the composer.;The writings of theorists, composers, and performers are consulted to verify the use of dances as a compositional framework, and to affirm that composers aimed to please. Memoirs, autobiographies, letters, music publishers' catalogues, newspapers, paintings and engravings, and "musical balls" help to convey the ambiance of the eighteenth-century ball and to ascertain what dances were actually in use. For each dance considered in detail (polonaise, menuet, French contredanses, English country dances, different types of German dances) an historical setting is presented; the writings of dancing-masters (mostly from the 1770s) give a basic outline of its choreography. Music for each dance type is then considered, and possible criteria for meter, tempo, and phrasing are deduced. These principles are then applied to unlabelled, stylized selections, mostly from the instrumental works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Previously unexplored issues include: the interrelationship of polonaise and menuet, the influence of the French contredanse on the classical rondo, the importance of ballad meter in determining English tune structure, the existence of French waltzes from the 1770s.;This study enables us to reconstruct what would have been second nature to the late eighteenth-century audience, thus presenting a new perspective from which to view a familiar repertoire and enhancing our understandng of classical music.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Music
