Assignment – Tuesday, Sept. 24

beau

Reading: Berlioz on William Tell

Listening after the jump.

 

Listening:

In the comments: Cite a specific passage from Berlioz’s review of William Tell, and explain very briefly what that passage tells you about the aspects of music that Berlioz finds particularly valuable or interesting.

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6 thoughts on “Assignment – Tuesday, Sept. 24”

  1. David Baird

    “To all this, I am sure that Rossini will reply: ‘Those constructions which seem to you so contemptible are precisely the ones that the public understands the most readily.’ ‘Granted,’ I should answer, ‘but if you profess such great respect for the propensities of the vulgar, you ought also to limit yourself to the most commonplace things in melody, harmony and instrumentation. This is just what you have taken care not to do. When then do you condemn rhythm alone to vulgarity. Besides, in the arts, crticism cannot and should not take account of considerations of these kind. Am I on the same footing as an amateur who hears an opera once every three or four months?'”

    Berlioz’s aesthetic values are essentially determined by a conscious decision to reject the commonplace and the sentiments of the masses. In this sense, he’s a true elitist. Berlioz favors the complex, innovative, structured and objectively-interesting aspects of music.

    September 22, 2013 at 11:18 pm
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  2. Luke Celenza

    on page 1127 in the second paragraph, Berlioz calls the first movement “the calm of profound solitude, the solemn silence of nature when the elements and the human passion are at rest” This stuck out to me because at first it is sort of eery and minor sounding although beautiful and very romantic as well. I enjoy the release into where the rubato stops and the time starts with wonderful simple cadences and themes it certainly represents harmonious elements such as when the human passion is at rest. Its a beautiful first movement leading into “the Storm” which develops out of a series of trills echoing from the movement before.

    September 24, 2013 at 1:25 am
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  3. Elizabeth White

    A general complaint that Berlioz has with Rossini’s “William Tell” is that, while there is originality and innovation in many of the melodies and in the instrumentation, there are also a great deal of clichéd, unoriginal rhythmical figures and a sense of laziness with the composition of some of the recitative passages. Within the opera, the passages that interest Berlioz the most are those that do not simply pander to what Rossini believes his public understands and appreciates, but instead are interesting and beautiful from a learned musical standpoint. Berlioz eventually accuses Rossini of laziness, writing: “You have written a commonplace rhythm, not because the public would have rejected another, but because it was easier and above all quicker to repeat what had already been used over and over again than to search for more novel and more distinguished combinations” (p 1133)

    September 24, 2013 at 2:48 am
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  4. Katherine Siochi

    “At length, the tragic ritornello of the trio is unfolded. Here we confess that, despite our role as critic and the obligations that it brings with it, it is impossible for us to apply the cold blade of the scalpel to the heart of this sublime creation. Why should we analyze? The passion, the despair, the tears, the lamentations of a son horrified by the news of his father’s murder? God forbid!” (p. 1135)
    From such a statement we can see that Berlioz obviously values the ineffable transcendent beauty that truly great music possesses. Although there may be specific aspects to the music that lend it this quality, he is so captivated by its emotion that he doesn’t find analysis necessary- he finds it almost irreverent.

    September 24, 2013 at 12:03 pm
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  5. beau

    Test comment.

    September 24, 2013 at 2:15 pm
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  6. Michael Chiarello

    “So you find dramatic meaning in this use of the triangle,” someone asks us; “in that case, pray be good enough to tell us what is represented by the violins, violas, basses, clarinets and so forth.” To this I should reply that these are musical instruments, essential to the existence of the art, while the triangle, being only a piece of iron whose sound does not belong to the class of sounds with definite pitch, ought not to be heard in the course of sweet and tranquil movements unless its presence there is perfectly motivated, failing which it will seem only bizarre and ridiculous.”
    This clearly points to Berlioz’s extreme attention to instrumentation. In his Symphony Fantastique, Berlioz always seems to use the perfect instrument to convey and particular emotion. Obviously, he disagrees with Rossini’s use of the triangle as it probably seems “bizarre and ridiculous” to him.

    September 24, 2013 at 2:21 pm
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