Key Terms
Definition
Music for two to nine players, usually with one player per part. Performed in a room ("chamber") or smaller auditorium.
London Symphonies
Haydn's last 12 symphonies (Nos. 93-104); written for public concerts in London.
Key Works
41 symphonies; 27 piano concertos; 5 violin concertos; string quartets; sonatas; several masses including the unfinished
Major operas
Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte, The Magic Flute. Considered the greatest Classical Period composer of
Middle Period key works
Symphonies 3-8; Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica" = heroic); Symphony No.
Late Period key works
Late piano sonatas, last five string quartets, Missa Solemnis, Symphony No. 9 in D Minor (The Choral Symphony).
Two things sonata form achieves
1. Clear, logical organization of musical material.
Purpose
Post-movement wrap-up. Helps bring the movement to a definitive close.
Form
Slow introduction + sonata form; NO coda.
Key structural difference from Mozart
The recapitulation is more condensed and compressed than the exposition. Haydn takes less time with the transition to th
Other structural note
Exposition is fully repeated.
Premiere context
Four-hour concert, unheated theater, bitterly cold. Beethoven not on good terms with performers; some refused to rehears
Full name
Pianoforte — named for its ability to play soft (piano) and loud (forte). Later shortened to "piano."
Why it mattered
Earlier keyboard instruments (harpsichord, etc.) could not sustain sound — volume diminished quickly after a key was str
Important context
In the Classical Period, people had no recordings. If you wanted to hear music, you played it yourself or attended a con