8 January 2024 lecture-20240108_090204-Meeting

Recording
January 8, 2024, 9:02AM
1h 7m 9s

Dwayne Stewart joined the meeting

Jeremiah Beer joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 0:10

Okay，now we'll start again。Apologies so。
We spent a lot of time talking about music。
In the concert hall，virtuoso performers。
Music in sacred spaces you'll remember like having to do with cathedrals etc。All of
this music is part of what we can think of really as a kind of public sphere。

Mar Mitrovic Campos joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 0:36

So all of this music taking place that we've talked about before within a kind of
public realm。Although there are different categories of public，perhaps we can
say，but however，as you probably all know，first time，though，a lot of musical
activity takes place in more private spaces，IE。What we can consider to be a private
sphere or private spheres，right？

Yik Chen left the meeting

Yik Chen joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 0:59

So let's talk for a little bit about what the public sphere is versus the private
sphere。I。

Siyu Chen joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 1:06

Anybody could just。

Yik Chen left the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 1:10

Try and brainstorm or even define what the private sphere is。You might be able to
do this，especially if you've already done the reading for this week。If you
haven't，that's okay，but what do you think we mean by private sphere and feel
free to just jump in？
Yik Chen joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 1:34

Anyone？
Okay，so this this，like dichotomy of public sphere versus private sphere is it is a
concept or dichotomy that that was conceptualized by sociologist in the mid
twentieth century and his name is Jurgen habermas。You may have heard of him。
He talked about this。He came up with this idea of this dichotomy，the public
sphere and the private sphere in a book called the structural transformation of the
public sphere。

Gene Raymond joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 2:11

Now he in the book is talking specifically about society in Western Europe。OK，so
it's very a western centric idea，but as we know this classical music and this module
is pretty much just very western centric。That's much of what you do here at Trinity
in。

Sachin Beaman-Patel joined the meeting

Annie Yates joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 2:31

So habermas in this book describes the emergence of a public sphere in the
eighteenth century，so this news kind of spear sphere of life comes about in the
eighteenth center，he says，which coincided with the Enlightenment and specifically
the rise of a kind of middle class。
And breakdown of an older feudal system。
Had been common through the Middle Ages that or that was the that was the way
that things ran economically in the Middle Ages，so breakdown the feudal system
by the middle of the eighteenth century and we get the emergence of a middle
class。
And this coincides then or this brings about then this idea of a private
sphere。Habermas notes that in the public realm or the public sphere。

Yik Chen left the meeting

Roxanne Watts joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 3:21

That this was coextensive with kind of public authority or the people in
charge。While the private sphere comprised civil society and the realm of like
commodity，exchange and social labor。
Yik Chen joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 3:38

If this changes though，as we go through as we go through time。
In the eighteenth century，we're talking about the the public authority being like the
state，you know，the government，the police，the ruling class of the
aristocrats，right，and still the feudal authorities that exist like the church and
nobility，and then the the other part of the public sphere arises at this time within
what he says from an actual private realm。
Specifically in connection with literary activities。OK，so this this dichotomy of
public versus private has been applied to many or applied by many people working
in sociology and gender studies，but also throughout the humanities。It's kind of
common language now to say public sphere or private sphere，and it's been
particularly popular amongst cultural historians who study in the nineteen
century，including people who look at music as the public and private spheres align
really well with ideas of kind of gendered spheres and by extension，different genres
of music。

Roxanne Watts left the meeting

Emerson Hampshire joined the meeting

Roxanne Watts joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 4:40

The public sphere was thought of being very male dominated，um，while the
private sphere um namely conceptualized to the idea of one's home or being in the
home，this was the domain of women。So we get this sort of gendered spheres
going on male and public on one side，female and private on the other。
Now in music，we can think of the public space of say the concert hall，which we
looked at，right，or the cathedral versus the private space of the home and the
music that might be going on there and that particularly takes off in the late
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries。This idea of kind of creating music in the
home，because now there's a middle class of people who can，who are educated
enough and have a leisure time to to do music in the home，to own instruments，to
buy sheet music and have the training and so on。
Now much of this music in the private sphere was done by women。Okay，doesn't
mean that men never played and they only did。But it was expected that women of
a certain class had some musical training and could entertain people within this
private sphere space。A respectable woman。Never though，would go out and
play，say in a concert hall，right？If she was of a certain class or go out and actually
earn money from playing，that's something entirely different。

Luciana Grant joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 6:03
So one interesting space we can think about though，is the the salon you may have
heard of before。This is a kind of intermediary space。This is a space like where we
talked about it。In the case of Schubert，right，and the kind of Schubert，tiyad and
this these sorts of。
Musical parties almost going on within homes right where people would be
invited。It's quite exclusive，meaning you needed an invitation or to kind of be part
of this artistic circle，or you were just of a certain class and connected to the people
of the home，and so it's usually like in nice houses really nice spaces to have music
and guests and so on and this sort of like shubertiad or we can think of the
salon。These were often organized by by women，but this is a kind of intermediary
space between public and private，right？So my point is that this dichotomy，a
public versus private is is not just either or that there is a kind of a liminality in
between，it's。

Yik Chen joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 7:08

To think about this and music and the genres that we're going to look at today kind
of fall in various places on this continuum。
So for this week，you're reading an essay by Wolfgang Furman called the intimate
art of listening music in the private sphere in the nineteenth century。This is your
compulsory reading to accompany this lecture。And so I'm going to use his concept
of private here。I've talked about the sell on as I said，but I want to use his concept
of the private。
Specifically to think about。
Maybe this。
The idea of the intimate as he talks about so we can think about this in the context of
a physical space and environment that is intimate，we can think about this in terms
of access。It's not everybody，of course，can enter this intimate space of the
home。Access is about who's invited，right？
And then also within related to this is the question of genre。
You know，and how the genre cut notes and is meant to delineate and
reify，reinforce ideas of a private space，a certain genres being associated with a
very kind of public space like the concert hall and certain genres coming about their
cultivated，particularly in the nineteenth century that are associated with these
private spaces。Because these private spaces are spheres or spaces for music are
really just started taking off。
OK，what I want to think too，though going back to my previous slide，if this will
work。
This this question here，private musical spaces today。
We're focused very much on。
The late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries today looking at some very canonical
repertoire in these places，but I think something to maybe keep in the back of your
mind is，well，what has happened to the idea of private musical space
today，right？Because it's probably very，very。
That people are maybe hosting，you know，musical parties，live music in their
home，right？But perhaps we need to think about the role of technology over the
last century has played in creating soundtrack to a kind of private musical
space，you know，in the bringing in a recordings to the home，right？
And then even today，the more recently the the idea of private space is even is even
perhaps more private and more different through the use of，you know，streaming
technologies。But more specifically，you know the use of headphones or earbuds
which，you know，create you literally your own private space that you can hear and
enables you to block out the kind of public sphere of sound，whatever that may be
given your your setting。
An author that I've put in the supplemental readings for this week。If you want to
learn more and think about this idea of the private sphere and music and more
modern times，the authors Tia de Nora，who's also sociologist but she focuses on
music and her famous concept in the reading that I've that I've linked is is this music
is technology the self and how we use music to code and create this kind of concept
or to to sort of embody this idea of ourselves and their music through this private
space and music that we can create while we go do things like travel。

Ching Wong joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 10:38

Commute，clean the house，you know，cook，do whatever。
Alright。
Are there questions？
If I move in，move on。
No alright，let's keep going，so we're gonna have three case studies。
That are associated with the private sphere。
The first two in very traditional ways and quite canonical repertoire，and as I
said，these are from the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth century，so
this is the really the period that is that is prime for music making in domestic spaces
or the private sphere。It coincides with the rise of the middle class，or sometimes
you'll see the word bourgeois class，particularly in the Furman reading。That's the
word he uses a lot。The rise of the middle class with interest in abilities and
music。So all these people of this new sort of class that can do music and can do it
at home。

Jacob Ashcroft joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 11:38

And then also，this is just the，you know，the period of time that is right before
pre recording。
As well and that all starts to change and we when we do start to get recording at the
beginning of the twentieth century。All right，we're gonna start off with hiding
string quartet from the late eighteenth century，then we'll move to a Chopin
nocturne from the eighteen thirties，and then we'll look at the Brahms cello Sonata
number two from the late eighteen eighties。
OK so as I said，case study one is this is Frances of Hayden Franz Joseph hayden's
drink quartet and e for that major opus thirty three number two，subtitled the joke
from seventeen eighty one，and we're looking specifically at movement four so hide
in string quartets are examples of chamber music，of course，that were written
specifically for domestic recreation。Okay，they were written for kind of music in
the private sphere，but of course，hayden's idea，the private sphere because of
where he was working。
Differs a bit from，you know，say private sphere of of people in the middle
nineteenth century and definitely for us today。
This is the image this image you see on the slide was used by the Viennese。
Music publisher who who put out his work？It's it。The publisher was named ataria
and they did。They put out loads of chamber music in the mid seventeen
eighties，and this was the sketch that that they used，okay？
Now I think what's interesting is that。
And I'll come back to this slide that in this slide，we do see a woman here playing
right and what we have here is clearly domestic chamber music。
But what we have here is also not exactly a string quartet，right？It's some kind of
trio and we can see by the people here that these are these are well to do，right？
They're probably upper middle class or even upper class。
And I think it's also important to note that that the the aristocracy in many
ways，you know，they a lot of people，a lot of people near aristocracy could do
music。They were trained in it，but they also didn't necessarily have to that they
could afford to pay musicians to play for them。So some of this more kind of private
music that we see is music that would have been being played by professionals in
perhaps these domestic spaces of aristocrats，which sometimes were often quasi
public。
Women were active participants。I should say in these kinds of trees，but usually in
playing the piano as you see here。
They were equal to men in this sort of domestic setting of music making，sometimes
they sang as well，but those were really about the only options at this time you had
to sing or put a piano if you were a woman，so piano trio emerged and it's this
really interesting way to think about it is that it's one of the few genres in which we
can see men and women making music together。
Now。
We see in this string quartet，you know，it's modern example，all
women。However，this string quartet during the time of Hayden was considered to
be an all male ensemble，so women were not allowed really to play string
instruments。I wouldn't say not allowed，but it was just discouraged。It was seen as
it was seen，as you know，uncouth unladylike you'd have to contort your body in
weird ways that made you look not pretty，so there was a kind of。
Soft ban on women playing in the string quartets，which is interesting given that
they were written kind of for to be played in the home and women were seen as kind
of primary domestic music makers。
Um，but during hayden's time，string quartet was thought of as being music
amongst friends，um，played by the aristocracy in the upper middle class。It was
performed for its own sake，it wasn't about entertaining really other people，as it
was just being about the for the enjoyment of the players。Okay，and here we
actually have Hayden here playing on the string quartet。
It was thought of as a kind of conversation amongst friends，you
know，represented through these instruments，and they were written very much
stylistically to emulate this idea of conversation。
There were thousands of quartets published in Vienna and Paris between seventeen
seventy and eighteen hundred。So you know，Hayden，though，was often
thought of as the father of the string quartet，but this is a genre that is being
cultivated by lots of people at this time，and a Titan who kind of solidifies it and
becomes the most famous composer of it。And we'll talk more about him in a
minute，but it was still music that was being thought of as being for
professionals，but also connoisseurs。Women were never to be seeing playing on
these intimate。
Monkey sequels，as I said，because，and also that these were quite challenging to
play，perform for its own sake in private residences。
Okay，so we get lots of descriptions from the period about。
These string quartz at playing one comes from Michael Kelly and he was a he was an
Irish tenor and composer and theater manager，and。
Specifically，he managed King's theater in the theater royal jury lane here in
London，and he went to Vienna and he wrote about what he saw and the music and
things that he that he heard there and then then came back and published this work
in in in Britain，he wrote about seeing string quartet and specifically hiding the
players were tolerable。Not one of them excelled on the instrument he played，but
there was a little science among them，which I dare say will be acknowledged when
I name them。So this was the quartet that he saw。He was saying the players were
tolerable，which I think is funny，so hiding on first violin。
Dinner's dwarf um before as well，a guy named von hall on the cello and on the
tenor Viola or the Viola Mozart，so this would be quite a sight to see，and he
notes，Michael Kelly notes that there were the poets custody and pasielo who were
there。They were offered libretto's，and he wrote，I was there in a greater treat or
a more remarkable one cannot be imagined。After the musical feast was over，we
sat down to an excellent supper and became joyous and lively in the。

Julia Swapp left the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 18:19

Extreme。
So，this gives us a kind of sense of，you know，the ways that string quartets
functioned at this time that leading composers were playing on them，playing their
own music，and that these were being done in these kind of private spaces that
were about kind of friendship and intermingling，and so on amongst like minded
people。So just to say a little bit about hiding，I'm not going to give you loads of
information about his life because you could go，you know，read it easily on
Wikipedia。But here's a kind of。
Synopsis，if you want to go beyond this or Wikipedia，you could of course go to
the Grove online and read a really long，you know，biographical entry about him。
But one of the key things I think to。
Take away that you should definitely know。Besides，he's kind of known as the
father of the string quartet is that his career really represents this shift from the old
musical patronage system to a kind of more freelance approach that we see
happening under Beethoven a little bit later whom we talked about so hide in，of
course，famously worked for a very powerful，Hungarian noble family called the
Esther hazis and he enjoyed their patronage for decades。
Lived at their country estate，estraza and all the music that he wrote for them up
until about seventeen seventy nine was their music that he did not own it，that he
didn't own the rights。Copyright law was very different this time，but then in
seventeen seventy nine，he got a different kind of contract and gained more
independence and his music was allowed to kind of be published and released
around Europe and he became really famous and famously came to London and
seventeen，ninety and seventeen ninety five these big London trips。

Roman Bilan joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 20:09

And specifically wrote the London symphonies for for these so we see his career kind
of starting to shift at this time，where he's earning his money through publication
and these commissions right？So he wrote loads and loads of music of all the kind of
the expected genres of the time from symphonies，concerto，string quartets and so
on，all of which you can read there。
Um，here's a bit of the contract from his。The contract he had with the Ester has a
family which you can read on your own。It's just talking about what his duties are。
I won't spend time on this now，but that's Esther hazi or Esther hazza。The
palace，different parts of it here the concept space。
It had a salon，cut it for more private and intimate music making，and these kind of
musical parties were talking about。
Okay，just in terms of um，his，his，his style，so with Hayden，it's all
about，like，the kind of the。

Mar Mitrovic Campos left the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 21:21

What makes his music individual or kind of stylistically unique is the way he takes
these kind of very maybe we would think of restricted forms like Sonata form
concerto form，so on and mixes it with kind of unexpected things，so the way that
he plays with forms to kind of play with our expectations。
And his music is known for being full of wit and humor as well。There's a lightness
to his his，his music and an elegance。I guess he would say that，you
know，makes it very different from，say，say Beethoven，which is much more
dramatic in in tone。
Um major influence on him was one of JS box sons，of course，cpe buck and the
keyboards Sonata is there。
Particularly and with the way that cpe Bach would experiment with this infants on
style，where we're kind of getting a more kind of heightened expressivity，variation
and development of musical ideas。
Got a bit more about hiding in his process here，way that he would compose。If
you're interested，you can look through some of that，but it's interesting to note
that improvisation was a big part of the way that that he that he worked as well and
because improvisation was also something expected of performers at this time that
they would be able to do as well as in many cases composed so somebody like
hiding and Mozart composed，they performed and they improvised。This was just
what you did as a as a as a leading musician。
Back then，okay，let's get into the actual quartet now。
For the approach on this one to kind of。
Think about you know these different，like modes analysis that some of you are
considering for your podcasts，so the kind of mode of analysis that we're going to
see here is very kind of musical analytical，all right？Because，and I think that's
appropriate because with Hayden，he was very focused on ideas of musical form
and musical style and ways to kind of play with these to tease us as listeners。I am
viti's quartets were met to be a kind of musical conversation，the notes，the
rhythms，the phrasing，all of these things were supposed to kind of emulate
conversation，you know，a witty conversation amongst friends，so I think it's
important we actually kind of take a look at the nuts and bolts of the music here，so
this is。
Being written for these private spaces that went on to be published because of his
growing fee。As I said earlier，it was published by artaria。
With the set of six quartets alright，so we're looking at the opus thirty three
here。There were six of them are published。We're looking at number two and
specifically we're going to focus on the fourth movement and they advertised ataria
did as being composed and entirely new and special way。So what was new and
special about it？Well，this sort of gallant style，the kind of what they were
describing is classical counterpoint even。
That they that even we're going to look at some of them being monothermatic that
he's playing with kind of musical form here。So they're advertising this is something
new，you know that had not been done before，so our movements we could four
standard movements that we would expect of a string quartet and it's really hiding
that helped to standardize these that we could come to expect today。So an allegro
moderato，which is in e flat and uses the Sonata allegro form second movement is a
scare so also in e flat，but the form here we get a skirt so trio。
Okay，you know，Beethoven's often credited with with bringing in a but Hayden
had been doing it as well。Actually，so then。
The third moment which is in b flat。We get a theme in variation and this is more of
a kind of duet。
Going on。
For Viola and cello，and then the last movement is a presto。That's the one we're
looking at，which is an e flat major and is kind of a Rondo。
And we'll be thinking about what this joke is。
Alright，let's hear just a little bit to kind of get us going。I'll try to play from here。
了。
Okay，So what is the joke？Who can tell us what the joke is？
Don't be shy what？What is funny about this？What is the joke？
Maybe it's too early on Monday morning for a joke。Jeremiah，yeah。

Jeremiah Beer 29:18

Hi um uh assume you can hear me？

Michelle Meinhart 29:20

Yeah，yeah，I can。

Jeremiah Beer 29:23

If by joke you mean，like what in the music could represent a joke？

Michelle Meinhart 29:28

Yeah。

Jeremiah Beer 29:30

The the motif that keeps going back that six，eight motifs that you hear just actually
are on that page just before thirty。

Michelle Meinhart 29:38

Yeah。

Jeremiah Beer 29:38

Could could represent。
Like someone would would would go away，come back and then it would be like
someone，so someone that keeps telling a joke，but then someone goes serious
again，so you know that，that my，that motif in specific probably would represent
the the the joke。

Michelle Meinhart 29:58

Yeah yeah，yeah。So this maybe the kind of the light heartedness of this of this
motive。Yeah，that kind of keeps coming back sometimes not on its full
entirety，and it gets broken up and。
Kind of almost becomes like almost like a peekaboo kind of thing。I don't know，I'll
scare you。Your hand was up as well。Do you want to？

Oskar Osterling 30:19

Yeah，well，I mean what I think of as a joke are these。
Weird pauses in the music，so it's it's like，ohh，he this players aren't reading
correctly or they're hesitating since。

Michelle Meinhart 30:24

Yeah yeah。
Mm hmm。
Oskar Osterling 30:33
A lot of these like comic elements，even having played Hayden in the music，there's
a bunch of weird accents where maybe they shouldn't be，and just strange pauses。

Michelle Meinhart 30:43

Yeah，absolutely。Yeah，the silences and the pauses good，weak resolutions to
the way that harmony kinda plays in。I mean，with the rhythm to kind of play with
our expectations，because that's the sort of the thing here，that's that makes it
maybe it would have been funny for people at the time who were very well versed in
this kind of musical language and genre and form to hear these things，to hear the
music，not do the things that supposed to right。
Do this theme kind of being obstinate and stopping and starting and getting these
weird pauses coming in and out，and it does kind of create this peekaboo type
effect，I think。
Also the like a larger kind of joke going on，I think，has to do with the form，you
know，at first hearing we may think it's just a kind of rounded binary form，right？
So here's kind of basically the whole musical material，so we get the main
theme，and then you got this middle section was a lot more serious，right？And
then the eight comes back。
It kind of seems like it's that the the refrain the the the the main part itself。
Is it is it is it around binary？So it doesn't really seem almost like we're we're in a in
Rondo territory because we've had this kind of ternary thing going on already in the
first theme，which is，which would be the refrain right in arundo？So that's in itself
kind of like meant to be strange and would have seemed weird，I think to
audiences。
So we would normally think of and also with a like a ternary form or minuet trio form
like it's just kind of what he's done here。
It to look something like this，right？
This is the typical kind of progression we would expect and thematic material。
Of a typical of a typical one。
We get this Rondo，though that has the refrain。That's in a rounded binary form as
we've talked about。The framework is conventional that he's using，but the
contents are are are not so he kind of like within just already within the refrain
itself。We're getting these kinds of different things going on，and then the whole
music。
In some ways starts to seem like a big rounded binary form。Some rounded binaries
happening at the the kind of micro level。
Right or ternary food？When I think of it that way，it's happening it within the
refrains，the micro level，but also kind of at the macro level as well。If we think of
an A here，then you know a kind of you know b section here，but then it's actually
kind of sounding mostly like A and then a return of the A and you get these episodes
in between。
Also that the first episode。
It's not doing what we would expect of Rondo because this what should be AB
section um is is going to um，a flat major or or the subdominant rather than
five，which would be the expectation for music at the time so lid sners at this
time，you know who are very educated in music。They would have heard this and
thought what，what's going on here，right？So these are all things that are part of
the joke going on and。
Is the coda to even kind of make the audience perhaps laugh even more。It's
it's，it's confused the audiences and to kind of make fun of them as you hear。It's
not because you wouldn't know when to applaud，right？This is the last
movement，so we're coming up ready for the big finish，right？Especially for a big
Rondo。We would expect there to be a big finish，but it kind of does Peters out and
we get the theme broken up and we get this adagio。It's really strange。
It's also meant to poke fun at，you know，the kind of amateur musicians who were
known or thought to be very kind of beat driven，you know，playing along with
metronomes and so on，so we have the rhythm in this in the in the kind of breakup
of the theme and so on and change in tempo there to kind of put fun at musicians in
a way to kind of really try to test them out in a light hearted way。
So there's a number of ways that hide in here is is is making jokes and playing with
audiences expectations。
And some of this might have be what the the publisher was talking about，with
these quartets being，you know，the new that these were new and
unconventional。
In in in many ways。
Here's a bit more detailed。
Analysis of the form。
What she can look at，here's the the very ending kind of the weird things going on
to kind of highlight again，the weird rests，the break up，the theme，the change
in the tempo，and so on。
Okay，so now let's move on to thinking about the impact that the increase in the
number of amateur musicians had on，you know，music industry and
composers。So because there were so many more amateur musicians coming about
because of playing in the home and the rise of a middle class，this created demand
for more music and music specifically that，you know，amateur people could could
play，you know，not everybody can can can play，say Beethoven pathetic
Sonata。So we needed some things that were a little bit easier but still enjoyable
and challenging enough for。
So publishers，of course，responded to this，this need for this in the market as well
as composers comp。
Now had another aspect of the music business from which they could make a profit
with this growing middle class and music in the in the home and so over the course
of the nineteenth century we see sheet music。
Growing and growing as an industry，particularly a market for amateur sheet music
that。
Not just classical music but but loads and loads of popular music as well。Like，for
instance，even the say the Stephen foster songs，and so on that we talked
about。Or maybe that's next year I can't remember。
But but a wide wide variety of genres being put into cheap music and sold in this
way from music in the home，in the kind of private sphere。
One of these that we'll talk about of a genre that emerges from this is is is the piano
nocturne and the character pieces will get to in a second，but just to kind of to kind
of conclude with with with Hayden around seventeen fifty and sixty。
We see composers finding more and more employment outside of a kind of，you
know，just having a patron like Hayden did。But there's still many restrictions，so
the Esther haze family like kind of putting a lot of restrictions on to hide and in terms
of what money and work he could do outside of outside of their their estate，right？
But the seventeen seventies and eighties we saw，we see a massive change in things
from just a couple decades before where we're starting to see concert series being
established for these same composers like Hayden or a single concert being
commissioned，so this patroness system kind of loosening。
Up as as composers are becoming more and more driven by a kind of public sphere
and public demand and comment at commercial aspect of music that is
emerging。So the concert series，single concerts，commissions，public and
subscription concerts，getting notoriety and cash through teaching and then also
earning money through publishing，of course，as well。So all of these things now
become part of hayden's world became part of Mozart's world and definitely part of
Beethoven's world by this time period that would have two decades before been
absolutely impossible。

Oskar Osterling left the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 38:56

Really world changing，so we have the rise of the kind of the freelance composer
and musician this time。Okay？So case study two is chopin's not turn any flat major
opus nine，number two，okay，so this might be a piece that many of you know I。

Jacob Ashcroft left the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 39:17

It's been used in adverts。It might have been if you did a levels in this country，it
might have been on there。I'm not sure，but I want us to think about this very
familiar piece within this idea of the private sphere today。Now the image you see
on the slide here。
Is it kind of example of private sphere music making？We have lists here。Rossini's
in this barelios is in this。This is a painting done by。
A man named Dan writer，this is George sand who was。
Chopin's。
Partner his lover who that was our pin name，and。
Also here is Victor Hugo um，who is here，who was the author of um Les
Miserables。OK，so we have them all around the piano listening to lists here playing
right，but they're all kind of looking off in the bus to Beethoven，who's kind of out
here floating around like he's looking down from heaven or something。So this is a
kind of private sphere music making in a sense that we get these kind of people in
the know gathered together listening to this music and so on。But lists，of
course，as we know from last term，was also。
A composer and a performer who was very much in the public sphere as well。So
again，I want to drive home the point that it's not like people are in either or the
private or the public or the private sphere，but there's a lot of fluidity and people
kind of went in and out of both，particularly performers and composers。Okay，so
you can think more about that painting find，maybe find a clear image on your own
too，right？So what happens at the beginning of the nineteenth century？Really is
this transformation of the piano as we see it？
It became improved。The piano became improved by new technologies of the
industrial revolution。
The range was extended to eighty eight keys said，going from looking like this to
like this over like a fifty sixty year period in the nineteenth century，going from a
wooden frame to a cast iron frame which is much stronger，this piano has
thick，strong strings where these has pretty nimble weak strings。You don't get a
lot of volume out of this thing，but this you of course do。We have pedals
here，whereas here we don't，so the sustain and the soft pedal are here，but on
the older piano we don't like what Beethoven and start would have been playing
on。
Early in their lives on the piano becomes a more more associated with home
music，making as it becomes more and more affordable。It will becomes affordable
because it starts to be mass produced in factories。Not necessarily，you
know，handcrafted anymore，so more and more people can afford it。It becomes a
staple of middle class homes like you see here。If you are respectable and wanting
to show that you are。
You know something in this in this world，then then you would have a piano，and
your daughters would know how to play and sing and you would entertain people in
this way，so that was expected。
With along with this the use of the piano in the home，of course，comes the need
for like genuine genres of music to be played because not all play women like this
one could just sit down。And as I said，play the pathetic Sonata or some kind of
you know list piece like would it be？Look at like the the transit one of the
transcendental aitudes right or own suspiro？Specifically，a lot of people cannot
play that right？It's quite technical and difficult，but。
Many people can play some of the shorter character pieces that we might associate
with the nineteen century，so a character piece is just a short piece for piano that。
Seeks to convey a mood，an atmosphere or a scene，so something extra
musical，but it does not have words or a text。It might have a kind of little
description at the beginning in some cases，but for the most part，no words，so
the music is meant to evoke something extra musical very loosely usually，and the
association is usually just by means of the title，and sometimes just a short
inscription，and then just the general atmosphere of the piece。
So it's a bit different than this idea program music that we saw see with Symphony
fantastic and the program symphonies specifically，but it's building upon that。It's
building upon this idea that music can convey something else and that people
became quiet。Intrigued by this idea，a music conveying something from outside
the music itself，wanting something to for it to convey。
So composers who wrote character pieces in the eighteen thirties will
Chopin。Obviously we're gonna talk about him，Felix mendelson，*****
mendelson。
Claire Schumann，it was doing some，I mean Robert Schumann as well，so lots of
composers，lots of composers doing this，including ones in in Britain and France as
well，but it's really kind of in the French and German spheres that we see the
most。All right，so a little bit about Chopin，I'm not gonna spend much time on
biography because you can read the slide you can read on Wikipedia。You can read
Grove online lots and lots of information there。
But obviously，you know he was Polish and a lot of his music was based off of Polish
folk dances，or the kind of the sound of Polish folk dances，but he perhaps more
than any of these other composers that I mentioned，is associated most with the
private sphere because he himself didn't really like performing in public，he didn't
really have a concert career，was quite introverted and and wrote music。
That，in some ways，you know，have become kind of war horses of the concert
hall，like，say，the the four ballads，right？But you can share those skeptos and so
on。
Why did that go away？
Beer。
Wrote，these works that today have become very much associated with。
The concert hall and so on，but wrote a lot of music also in his time that is much
shorter in in much less technically demanding and probably many of you panis will
know these，so his character pieces would include the ballads that I mentioned。
The polynesians，the Mozart is these dances and so on，but also the scarecrows
and even the a tubes，which are just studies，you know，but like lists a tudes，they
often have a kind of extra musical element，right？But of these，probably the
easiest pieces up here the most for amateurs would be the preludes and the
nocturnes。Many of these other ones，when the Missouri isn't too hard。But some
of these are quite technical，so these aren't all going to be，perhaps，music
performed by just anybody in the home。
Um here at three sonatas for piano and also a cello piano Sonata to concertos，as
he said，and some songs which are not very well known at all。Today most are in
Polish，okay？So the nocturne e flat major you see the beginning of it here。As I
said，this is a piece that many of you probably will have known。Nocturne as a
word just means night peace，right？An animal that is nocturnal like，say，a mouse
is up running around at night，so this is a this is a night piece，it's a piece that's
meant to evoke。
Night time，you know，moonlight kind of。
Wistful melancholy maybe romantic sense of longing and and and so on，so it's a
it's a。It's not a kind of like scary night or like animals screwing around at night in
the nocturne sense，but it's a kind of like romantic with a capital r sense of night
where there's a kind of mystery and moonlight and and lots of，you
know，wistfulness and longing and and and and so on so in this like in the Spiro
actually that we heard last term by。
We get this long kind of sweeping lyrical melody with the regular
accompaniment。What's different here with the list is that the is much
easier，right？It's just this，this kind of rocking regular accompaniment，whereas
you remember in the list，which is much more concert piece，the hands were all
over the place that you know it was using the full range of the piano，lots of kind of
crosshounds to create the accompaniment and so on，so this is much simpler and
therefore much more kind of geared towards that amateur domain of the private
sphere。
In your reading for this week，Wolfgang Furman talks about。
close listening that was going on in the kind of private sphere and the in salon
culture。
This is a sketch that he uses that he shows as an example of the kind of the way that
the you know the the。
Regular sort of people，you know，the middle class would be listening to music
now。What's significant is that。
In the in the in the public sphere，the concert hall。
Sphere that music often was not as closely listened to。There's a lot of。
Sort of a lot of people think that actually the rise of private or of a close listening
comes out of the actual private sphere where people are quite intently，you
know，listening as we see here and this is an example that you're that the author
from your reading talks about here。This house music in the evening from eighteen
forty。
So this is music does not turn that we're going is music aimed at this kind of intimate
performance that we see here a close listening。Alright now another way we can
think about this building upon the Furman，though，is by thinking about one of the
other supplemental readings for this week，and this idea of the nocturne is not just
only a private genre，but also one is a very feminine genre，right？Because these
genres any spheres were very much constructed as gendered in the nineteenth
century。So can an instrumental genre be gendered？
According to Jeffrey kelberg，he's written many things but most pertinent for our
purposes is his book Chopin at the boundary，sex，history and musical genre。So
this is linked in our supplemental readings on Moodle for this week，so he talks
about the nocturnes，he says。
He quotes a review of chopin's nocturnes，the opus fifteen ones，written in
eighteen thirty four for the publication，the algamina musically saitong in eighteen
thirty four，and so this is a quote from it that he that Jeffrey kolberg draws upon
arguing that nocturnes were thought of as quite feminine，he says，or that this
author JW finkes review he finks，says the nuttrins are really raveries of a soul
fluctuating from feeling to feeling in the still of the night about。
Want to set down nothing but the outburst of a feminine heart after a sensitive
performance of the same，these Nutter surely are my entire life okay？So that's one
contemporary review of it making us want to kind of。
The person hearing it as a kind of outburst of a feminine heart，a feminine voice，a
representation of a kind of feminine emotion，all right？
Another critic from eighteen thirty six who was anonymous that karlberg cites is
this，he says，the names of the creations not turns admit nothing else but
offensively dark hue。It is the dream which celebrates its round dances with longing
longing which choose pain on its own because it cannot find again the joy that it
loves。For that reason，these new nocturnes you talk about Chopin ones like the
old ones as different as they are from them well again，always be most attractive to
all hearts inclined toward the feminine。So again，nocturn。
Invoicing kind of feminine emotion。
All right，and we see throughout reviews of music。
Of the early nineteenth century，this kind of gendering a genres and you could
probably guess then that symphonies were often written about in very kind of
masculine ways，whereas nut turns like this seen as a very kind of feminine
emotion。
This is this idea of them being the kind of the voice of feminine emotion is
heightened too by their place and their performance in these kind of very feminine
spaces or spaces associated with women，the domestic sphere，and that they were
often performed by women themselves。These were pieces that were，you
know，respectable to play。They were，they could showcase your talent，but not
too much。They didn't make you move around too much or contort your body in
weird ways and say that like lists music would where you'd be doing hand crossing
and having to make your hands really span，really big and so on。

Harry James joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 53:01

That these were meant to kind of show off your talent in a very eloquent but also still
very kind of contained way。All right，so feminine and a number of different ways
for people at the time。
And then we get this to，yeah，OK，So what？Kalberg says about these reviews in
many of the passages，direct references to the perceived feminine quality and the
nocturne were accompanied by other figural language。So besides using the term
feminine in these reviews，we get lots of other words that are also at the time
associated with women，right feelings，right？That's not just a kind of an
association of the time，right？Feelings today，kind of in the cultural mindset still
for。
Associated with women，right dreams。
Sentiment right the sentimental always is associated with femininity tenderness。All
of these effective terms were linked to and Shirley and different degrees meant to
complement the primary image of the feminine，and often when these analogous
terms appeared and other criticism independent of any explicit citation of the
feminine，they were understood as code words for overtly feminine
imagery，right？So these reviews are full of language that's associating these pieces
with women，okay？

Mar Mitrovic Campos joined the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 54:23

Just saying words like women and feminine。There's all these other words that are
loaded，okay？
That's the way we can think about these nocturnes。All right，let's hear a little bit。
Of this feminine feeling，right？
Then he leaves a block too，just like the heightened。
And the competitor。
OK，I think interesting like interestingly like the Hayden too，that this is a piece that
basically has one theme，right？This theme just repeats over and over。It gets
different kind of accompaniment，different kind of harmonic inflection。There's
nothing funny about it，but it's interesting that in this kind of idea of a private
sphere，music that we're looking at today that we're getting this kind of
monotheism going on and that's the norm for the nocturnes，really in general，is
the kind of one theme that goes on and is varied，indifferent in different
ways。Okay，pianist here was Rubenstein，and I forgot to mention on the previous
recording at the hide，and that was the lenses，the famous lindsay's quartet。
Right，so we're running out of time，let me jump to the next。
So while in the hide in are are are kind of analysis or research methodology was very
kind of musically orientated towards form，right in the notes，so music analysis and
with the Chopin，I've done a real kind of，or I've used a kind of gendered
analysis，right？That is using a secondary source。Obviously the kalberg，who has
looked really intently at，you know？Primary sources from the period these reviews
so in our third case study。
Our Brahms，Sonata for cello and piano and F major movement two we're going to
be thinking about the kind of the genre as it transforms the idea of chamber music
being transformed from a kind of private space to something much more public
it，but it's still meaning to represent many of these emotions of the feminine，the
feelings of the feminine that and the intimacy that we would associate with the
private sphere that is just being kind of broadcasted now to a public space by the
time of Brahms。
Okay，so this cello Sonata maybe many of you know it。
For that should take minimum four。Sorry。
Four minutes that we would expect we're looking at the second movement，which is
this adagio affects you also where we get。
Kind of a clear evocation of something quite intimate，quite private，even though
by the time of Brahms。
The genre like this of chamber music has become quite public。
Oops from site sorry so calmer I'm sorry Furman in your reading for today talks
about this idea the of the intimate or private becoming public over the course of the
nineteenth century。So between the time of，say，Chopin and Brahms。
We see it changing so，so he sells from and says my insistent on nineteenth century
chamber musics embodying intimacy seems almost paradoxical，given that the
public performance of chamber music became ever more widespread during that
period gained an increasing audience。So while chamber music started out of
something in the home，it gets this wider and wider audience in people who are
performing it right，so it becomes increasingly public in many ways and then starts
to actually be written more for the aim of public concerts rather than for people in
the home。

Luciana Grant left the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 58:31
So circa nineteen hundred chamber music was written almost primarily for
ensembles giving public concerts。Okay，Brahms as chamber music was very often
performed in the concert hall，though it continued to be played by music loving
dilettants and professionals in private chambers，but it seems that it was precisely
through such historical dialectics that Brahms is music developed，particularly
powerful sense of intimacy。So he argues in this reading that you should be reading
for this week。The intimate，the idea of intimacy and music becomes a trope or a
topic or a feature。
Of chamber music as it actually becomes more public and is being performed in
concert halls through the nineteen century，it's no longer tied to a closed private
space，but now chamber music like what we're going to hear is nostalgic for this
more intimate space。
OK，so this is a very kind of different way or different angle。Looking at one of
these kind of pieces from the private sphere，it's about now thinking about in terms
of our research methodology，what it resonates，okay，what the piece resonates
for listeners at the time。
Why is that doing that？
That's weird。
So he's talking about this idea of the intimate happening within the chamber music
and the Brahms movement specifically。
In the opening why it's not showing you this image that is very weird，but I can。We
can look at it here in the opening that he's talking about。We get this kind of theme
as he's saying，like，we've seen these kind of single there，it is these kind of these
themes。
The gentle and subtle if complex exchange of the motive between the cello and
piano demonstrates an intimate communication，which is not so much a dialogue as
a close liaison between the musical actors。
Engaging in listening to each other with their ideas softly meshing together。
The score suggests in its very structure performance that realizes the ideal of two or
more human beings acting in accordance with one another while preserving their
individuality so the ideal of intimacy。
Furman says，so the music here is meant to。
Evoke this kind of intimacy between the two players，the cello and the piano，the
way that the motive is tossed around。Okay，now it's probably no surprise，then
that the most one of the most famous performances that of this was by a duo who
were actually，you know，were very intimate。They were a married couple，very
famous music couple and that was，of course，Jacqueline to pray and Daniel
bambaum，who are known for this piece。Amongst other things they collaborated
on。
So this really helps to kind of think about this drive home，this idea that what
Furman is talking about this intimate and the kind of public display of this intimacy
which we are now at the end of the nineteenth century nostalgic for and that
perhaps even today，we still might have this sort of seem nostalgia for for these
kind of more private closed spaces of intimate music making that just don't exist so
much anymore。So。
Up on noodle and in the slides，as you can see，is this performance of this which
you can listen to。
Play just a hair of it now to hear。
Just kind of get it in your ear。
There's the score。
OK so again listen to these pieces please on your own。You've got them linked on
Moodle，you've got them but embedded in the slides，the videos，there's a
scrolling score here you can use as well，so there's there's no excuse really，but I
think to kind of sum up，so we've looked at here three pieces。

Wan Sherren left the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 1:04:00

Associated with the private sphere in different ways，two of which one of which will
we should say，was written more for the kind of the private space of the
aristocrat，right？But that over the course of the composers，career becomes
transformed into something more public and that it's published and then is put out
then for people to in fact，buy and play within their homes，right？So that's the
Hayden，then we move to the Chopin another example of piece written this time
specifically for kind of private sphere by a composer who didn't really like public
performance was not into that。
But is writing for very serious music for this growing amateur market and that he
himself would play as well。
But in the Brahms here we see。
Music written for the private sphere in a different way and that we see as chamber
music now that is being written specifically for the concert hall，but music that is still
meant to evoke a kind of intimacy or sense or sense of the private sphere。
That is kind of somehow thought to be lost by through industrialization and urban
life of the of the late nineteenth century in Brahms time，and we see this really
embodied here kind of perfectly。I think through this specific performance with
Jacqueline dupree and Daniel berenbaum，who were like two of the most，you
know，famous romantically involved musicians of all time，all right？

Grace Powell left the meeting

Michelle Meinhart 1:05:29

This all kind of starts to change this idea of private sphere。As I started out in the
lecture，though，as we see a growing market for more and more popular music
through coming music coming out of tin pan alley in New York，and of
course，then recorded music coming into the home and not changing this idea of
music in the private sphere，not for better or for worse，but just changing it in in in
many，many many ways，the beginning of the twentieth century。And then，of
course，how radio would go on to transform it even more，right？
Through the nineteen thirties，when now music listening in the home of the private
sphere is centered around this box。
Right and kind of broadcasts put out by outfits like the BBC or NBC in the US are
varying other organizations，so we're now public entities are。
Music right in the sound that goes into the private space，and this in this
sense，okay，so that is where I will stop for today。Thank you all very much for
your attendance and remember no seminars this week。Do do the Furman reading
that's your compulsory reading？Make sure you make a class notebook。
Reflection about it or some notes remember to be keeping on top of all of that and
let me know if you have questions，I will see you all in lecture next week bye thank
you。

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Michelle Meinhart stopped transcription