vendredi, février 27, 2004 Schubert - Classicist or Romantic?  Schubert - Classicist or Romantic? That was the title of my very first music lecture, which I found incredibly interesting, to my surprise. The lecturer (Dr. J-Y Chen) started first with an anecdote, about why it was important to distinguish between the different periods - or at least, recognise the different schools of thought prevalent in the music scene. Apparently, there was a pianist, who auditioned for the Vienna Con. of Music. All went well, until she started playing Schubert. She was stopped after a couple of pages by the jury, who asked her "Why are you playing Schubert instead of a classical piece?" She replied that Schubert was a Classicist. Unfortunately, the jury didn't think so, and "needless to say, she failed the audition." Dr Chen then went on to compare one of Mozart's symphonies (I think it was the 40th?) and another of Schubert's, comparing their structure (first movements starting with strong string theme, repeated themes on woodwinds, the main melody played forte on the entire orchestra, and ending again, with full orchestra forte. The similarities in structure between Mozart and Schubert seem to lend weight to the idea that Schubert should be considered a Classicist, seeing that Mozart is undeniably Classicist. However, when comparing the progression of keys in individual phrases and themes within the symphonies themselves, there seemed to be a discrepancy between the periods. For Mozart, the symphony started off in a minor key, signifying confusion and uncertainty, and then moved up to a major key when life triumphed over death. However, when he brought out Schubert (Der Tod und Die Madchen) , the key moved from a major key (the maiden pleading for Death to let her be) to a minor key (where death says 'Come stay with me'). The difference in signification of major and minor keys (signifying life or death) between the two periods support the argument that Schubert is more Romantic than Classicist. There were bits in the lecture which went over my head, in the parts where they were discussing theory, like how the themes and phrases move to C#, but how Schubert never finishes the phrase on the dominant triad, choosing instead to end on a Cb chord, which (apparently) signals failure in the theme, and the dominance of death in the return of the minor chords. (there was bits in there about augmented 6ths, but that totally went whoosh over me). Those were fun - confusing, but fun to listen to. The whole lecture just made me so deliriously happy to be using my brain again - I thought I was using it by learning French, but somehow, a whole different set of neurons were activated while listening to this guy. The students said that he was quite boring, which rather surprised me. Am I that desperate to start studying again that my standard for lecturers has dropped so far? Hmm. I'm definitely looking forward to studying my masters. [Schubert - Classicist or Romantic?] |
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