answer key chapter24

8/12/2019 Answer Key Chapter24

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CHAPTER 24

1. How were nationalistic composers in Eastern Europe and Russia influenced by the New

German School described in Chapter 22?

Eastern European and Russian nationalist composers modeled themselves in many ways on the

progressivism of the New German School while also bending this style to suit their specific

aesthetic and political needs. As the most fashionable continental movement of the day,allegiance to the cause of the avant-garde put these marginal composersalready sensitive to

charges of provincialisminto the orbit of the most cutting-edge international style. However,many Eastern European nationalist composers rejected the dominance of Germany. The New

Russian School, for example, was a direct response to the supremacy of the German model, and

to Rubinsteins claim that music is a German art. Many composers had their cake and ate it

too, appropriating the authority of the New German School while fashioning it into an authenticnational style.

2. In what sense is Smetana both a New Germanist and a Czech nationalist? How and why

were his works received differently in Bohemia and outside Bohemia?

Smetana was ethnically Czech but culturally German: He chose to identify with Czech cultural

nationalism as an adult, but his artistic imagination was nourished his whole life by (New)German music. Hearing Liszt at age sixteen inspired him to become a composer, and Liszt was

his primary mentor. He excelled at that most Lisztian genre, the symphonic poem, and in his

time he was considered to be one of Europes most avant-garde composers. But his works were

received differently in Bohemia and outside Bohemia. At home, Smetana was best known for hisNew German, progressive works, while outside he gained a reputation for his charming, folksy

works (the good-natured opera The Bartered Bridebeing a particularly good example).

3. What factors make people hear Vltavaas a nationalist work?

Vltava is programmatic and pictorial, with each section evoking a different aspect of the Czech

river. The piece incorporates main themes from other movements of the M vlast suite, each

named after famous Czech landmarks and historical episodes. To listeners with knowledge of the

associations, the end of the piece, which juxtaposes the Vltava theme with the Vy!ehrad

motive, is thus a cornucopia of Czechness. Although it does not borrow from Czech folk song

(in fact, it is based on a Swedish folk song), its pictorial effects and explicitly Czech-titledsections and thematic materials make people hear it as a product of Czech nationalism.

4. Who were the Mighty Five? What were their goals? Which composers did they admire

the most, and why?


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The Mighty Five were a group of progressive young composers formed by Mily Balakirev as

the core of the New Russian School. It consisted of Balakirev, Csar Cui, Alexander Borodin,

Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. They aimed to create an authentic national

voice for Russian music, and to do so outside the orbit of the German-dominated conservatories,

by drawing on the wellspring of Russian folk song. However, the Mighty Five studied andadmired Liszt, Berlioz, Chopin, and Glinka for their progressive tendencies. Their style was thus

a fusion of Russian folksiness with New German experimentation and complexity.

5. Describe Mussorgskys realism in Boris Godunov. How is it reflected in the text setting

and orchestral writing of the Coronation Scene?

Boris Godunov reflects Mussorgskys ideal of realism, which holds that music should be truthful

to life. He believed librettos should be written in a conversational language to mimic natural

speech. In the Coronation Scene, this is evidenced in the title characters melodic recitative,which conforms to the rhythms of declamatory Russian. The scene also employs a prominent

folk tune, but perhaps most novel is Mussorgskys unorthodox orchestral effect to mimic thepealing of bells. Consisting of the dissonant juxtaposition of A-flat and D dominant-seventh

chords, this clanging quality pushes up against the limits of tonality for the sake of

verisimilitude.

6. Discuss the importance of traditional song and dance for Tchaikovskys music, especiallyin the Fourth Symphony and inEugene Onegin.

Tchaikovsky employed traditional song and dance in the Fourth Symphony and Eugene Onegin

for the sake of realism. In the symphony, these sourcesthe prominent waltz of the openingmovement and the folk tune of the finaleserve a programmatic function, heightening dramatic

realism. Eugene Onegin draws on the waltz and polonaise for their social connotations

(respectively, rustic and high-class), and adds historical realism by incorporating melodies

popular during the era in which the opera is set.

7. Compare and contrast Tchaikovskys Fourth Symphony with the symphonies you have

studied by Beethoven. In what respect did Tchaikovskys symphonies break from

tradition?

Tchaikovsky shares certain features in common with Beethoven: For instance, both of them

wrote symphonies that were heavily invested with drama and enigmatic questions. This isespecially true of Tchaikovskys Fourth Symphony. However, it diverges from tradition in many

ways. The symphony lacks motivic development (a Beethovenian mainstay and obsession of the

New German School) and is driven instead by broad, expansive melodies. It is set in the

traditional four-movement structure, but Tchaikovsky treated these movements as separate

character pieces rather than an integrated whole. He seemed to bypass many aspects of German

influence entirely: His affinities were instead with French and Italian music. Consistent with thisallegiance, Tchaikovsky often drew on the overt influence of traditional song and dance.

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8. What is at stake when Tchaikovskys symphonies are understood as being

autobiographical? What makes autobiographical interpretation persuasive or

unpersuasive?

Understanding Tchaikovskys symphonies to be autobiographical transfers the cause of the

emotional force of his music to his (perceived) tragic life, and away from his skill as a composer.

Autobiographical interpretations can be persuasive in helping to provide links between theemotional connotations of the music and the emotions that historians believe the composer was

feeling at the time. The connection can add pathos and a quality of truth to the music. However,biographical readings are bound to mislead. Autobiographical interpretation assumes an

immediate level of correspondence between subjective states and musical representation, but

music is artful and requires mediation. Further, it assumes that every musical utterance

represents the direct voice of the composer, when the composer could be writing from a rangeof contradictory perspectives. For example, Tchaikovsky wrote his melancholic Sixth Symphony

during a happy period of his life, and Beethoven penned his cheery Second Symphony during atime of personal crisis.

answer key chapter24

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