Chapters 38 & 39 Grieg & Dvorak NATIONALISM

CHAPTER 38 & 39
Sounding a Nation: Grieg and
Orchestral Nationalism
Nationalism Crosses the Ocean:
Dvořák and Late Romanticism in
the USA
Copyright © 2020 W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.

Copyright © 2020, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Refers to deliberate, conscious
attempt to develop artworks
characteristic of a particular
country or region
Attempt to break away from
German-Austrian style
Proof that other countries had
composers also
Political climate of Europe
Nationalism

European Politics of the Late 19th/Early 20th Century
Citizens demanded democratic forms of government
French and American Revolutions sparked similar unrest in many
countries throughout Western Europe, Russia, and Scandinavia
Europe became industrialized; farmers moved to cities; people
recognized shared heritage.
National pride developed, and musicians incorporated folk
traditions in their works.

New Republics Formed
• 1830: The Netherlands
became independent
• 1830 Belgium became
independent
• 1861: Italy unified its
city-states
• 1871: Germany unified
into an empire
• 1872: Portugal became
republic
• 1917: Russians
overthrew Czar;
beginning of Soviet
Union

Changes in Transportation
Passenger trains took people all over Europe: replaced
stagecoaches
Steamships replaced sailing ships; allowed relatively easy
Transatlantic crossings
Musicians, writers, and artists traveled and experienced other
cultures; they included them in their compositions, poems, and
artworks.

Inclusion of folk dance
Reference to folklore or peasant life
Programs: national hero, historic event, scenic beauty of land
Censorship
Powerful symbolism
Romantic Program Music
Musical Nationalism

Czech
• Antonin Dvořák
• Bedřich Smetana
England
• Edward Elgar
• Frederick Delius
Spain
• Isaac Albeniz
• Enrique Granados
• Manuel de Falla
Norway, Edvard Grieg
Finland, Jean Sibelius
Russia
• Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka
• “The Mighty Five”
– Mily Balakirev
– Alexander Borodin
– Cesar Cui
– Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
– Modest Musorgsky
Schools of Musical Nationalism

19th Century Nationalism in Russia: The Russian Five
• 5 Russian composers band
together
• Promote purely Russian music
• Incorporate history, folklore,
legends, native instruments,
native music
• Nikolai Rimsky-
Korsakov
• Modest Mussorgsky
• Alexander Borodin
• César Cui
• Mily Balakirev

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Born in Pskof, Russia: aristocratic family
Worked in the Russian Guard and composed on side
Trained by Balakirev
Incorporated inflection of Russian language in his
compositions
An original and influential composer

Considered least accomplished during
lifetime
Now greatest of Russian Five
Not interested in musical career, entered
military academy
Skilled at piano & singing, popular at
parties
Alcoholic, bizarre behavior
Died age 42
Rarely finished works, much completed
by Rimsky-Korsakov
Modest Mussorgsky(1839-1881)

Some famous works
Opera: Boris Godunov
Songs: The Nursery, Sunless, Songs and Dances of Death;
many others
Orchestral music: tone poem Night on Bald Mountain
(one of pieces in Disney’s Fantasia)
• Night on Bald Mountain
Piano music: Pictures at an Exhibition
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Pictures at an Exhibition
Promenade
The Great Gate of Kiev
Rock version by Emerson,
Lake, & Palmer
Pictures at an Exhibition

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Born in Tikhvin, Russia
Served 11 years in Russian Navy as Inspector of Naval Bands
Then taught composition and orchestration at St. Petersburg
Conservatory of Music
Arranged and edited collections of Russian folk music
Edited many of Mussorgsky’s and Borodin’s works for
performance
Famous students: Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev (20th
century composers)
Best known for symphonic poems and operas
Scherezade
Flight of the Bumblebee

Varieties of Orchestral Program Music, Part 1
I. Varieties of Orchestral Program Music
A. Concert overture: single-movement concert piece for
orchestra
1. evokes idea or place
2. outgrowth of opera overture
B. Incidental music: overture and pieces between acts of a
play and during important scenes
1. music enhances spoken drama
2. sometimes arranged into suites
3. influential in development of film music

C. Symphonic poem (tone poem): one-movement orchestral
work
1. created by Franz Liszt
2. freer structure, flexibility
3. contrasting sections: develop poetic ideas, suggest
scenes, create mood
4. most widely used, second half of century

Musical Nationalism, Part 1
II. Musical Nationalism
A. Nationalism: pride of conquering nations, struggle for
freedom
B. Political unrest in Europe stimulated nationalism
1. music based on folk songs and dances
2. dramatic works on folklore, peasant life
3. symphonic poems, operas: celebrate national
hero, historic event, scenic beauty
4. love of homeland: powerful symbolism

Musical Nationalism, Part 2
C. Schools of musical nationalism
1. England: Elgar, Vaughan Williams
2. Scandinavia: Grieg, Sibelius
3. Spain: Albéniz, de Falla
4. Czech Republic: Smetana, Dvořák
5. Russia: Tchaikovsky; “The Mighty Five,” incl. Borodin,
Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov

Other Nationalist Composers
Edvard Grieg-Norway
Peer Gynt Suite-incidental music for Henrik Ibsen play
Jean Sibelius-Finland
Finlandia - became national anthem of country
Edward Elgar-England
Pomp & Circumstance
Ralph Vaughan-Williams-England
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Manuel de Falla, Isaac Albañiz, Enrique Granados-Spain

Program Music
Symphonic poem-An orchestral form in which a poem or
program provides a narrative or illustrative basis
One movement
Flourished in 1840’s to 1920’s
Satisfied three aspirations of 19th century
To relate music to the outside world
To integrate multi-movement form
To elevate instrumental music to a higher level than that of
vocal music

Also sprach Zarathustra
Sunrise

A Scandinavian Nationalist: Edvard Grieg, Part 1
III. A Scandinavian Nationalist: Edvard Grieg
A. Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)
1. Norwegian composer, pianist; international
figure
2. studied in Leipzig: influenced by Mendelssohn
and Schumann
3. promoted Scandinavian music, founded
academy
4. stipend from Norwegian government
5. style: smaller-scale works, lyricism, nationalistic
use of folk music and dances
6. output: orchestral works, piano music, chamber
music, songs

• Bergen, Norway
• Attended Leipzig Conservatory
• Preferred smaller forms
– Piano works
– Folk tune arrangements
• Stipend from Norwegian Gov’t
• Henrik Ibsen, playwright
– Peer Gynt
• Died of heart failure
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

B. Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1
1. Peer Gynt: play by Henrik Ibsen
a. based on Norwegian folk tale, strong moral
message
2. Grieg’s Peer Gynt: incidental music for the play
a. final version: two orchestral suites, four
movements each
b. Morning Mood:
3. atmospheric depiction of sunrise
a. In the Hall of the Mountain King
i. conceived as grotesque ballet music
ii. wild troll daughters of the Mountain King taunt
Peer

C. Listening Guide 27: Grieg: Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1 (Op. 46), excerpts
(1874–75, play; 1888, suite)
1. Morning Mood
a. A–B–A′, coda
b. dreamy, flowing melody: flute and oboe
c. grows to loud climax, then dies away
d. pastoral instruments prominent (flute, oboe, horn)
2. In the Hall of the Mountain King
a. minor mode insistent theme: repeated six times, coda
b. duple-meter march, staccato notes, offbeat accents
c. huge crescendo and accelerando, dramatic ending

Peer Gynt
Morning Mood
Morning Mood
In the Hall of the Mountain King
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Rock versions
Apocalyptica
Savatage song

Small town in Bohemia
Studied in Prague
Pianist for Kaiser
Ferdinand
Became deaf toward end
of life, declining health
(syphillis)
No believer in “absolute
music”
The Moldau(1874)
Best known work from
Ma Vlast(My Country)
Bedrich Smetana(1824-1884)

The Moldau
Second of the symphonic poems
from My Country
River Moldau (Vlatava)
Music suggests scenes along
the shore of the river
Smetana: The Moldau

Music in a Nation of Immigrants, Part 1
I. Music in a Nation of Immigrants
A. United States national identity, more complex
1. defining characteristics of American music
a. many musicians chose Indian themes, African American
music
b. others argued for an international style
B. Dvořák: figurehead for debate, definition of American music
1. 1892 recruited by Jeanette Thurber, founder of National
Conservatory of Music
2. Dvořák: champion of German absolute music, and champion
of musical nationalism
3. struck by expressive potential of spirituals

C. Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904)
1. Bohemian composer, born near Prague
2. violist in Czech National Theater: Smetana conducting
3. composition professor: Conservatory of Prague
4. three years in United States, encouraged American
originality
5. gift for melody, love of native folk tunes
6. large output: operas based on Czech tunes, nine
symphonies, concertos, choral music, chamber music,
songs, keyboard music

• Born into Bohemian family (amateur
musician)
• Folk music of native land
• Uncle provided for study in Prague
• Café bands & National Opera Orchestra
• Friendship with Brahms via winning
composition to Austrian Commission
• Director - Conservatory of Music, New York
• Introduced by Harry T Burleigh to African-
American Music
• Acquainted with Native American Music
• Director of Prague Conservatory until death
Antonin Dvořák

D. Dvořák’s American String Quartet (1893)
1. written in Spillville, Iowa
2. premiered shortly after The New World Symphony
3. known as the “Negro Quartet,” critics felt it borrowed
from African American traditions
4. melodies: pentatonic scale, characteristic of African
American spirituals and Central European folk music
5. first movement, tradition of Haydn and Beethoven,
sonata-allegro form

E. Listening Guide 28: Dvořák: String Quartet in F Major, Op.
96 (American), I (1893)
1. Allegro ma non troppo; sonata-allegro form
2. exposition:
a. theme 1, arpeggiated and pentatonic
b. long transition
c. theme 2, stepwise with ornaments, pentatonic
scale

3. development:
a. melodic and rhythmic motives passed between
instruments
b. extended fugato section
4. recapitulation:
a. themes in F Major
b. new cello solo begins the transition
c. short coda

String Quartet in F Major, American – Dvořák
String Quartet in F Major - American

Credits
This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for “The Enjoyment of Music, 4th Edition, Chapter 38: Sounding a Nation:
Grieg and Orchestral Nationalism”
For more resources, please visit https://digital.wwnorton.com/enjmusic4ess

Chapters 38 & 39 Grieg & Dvorak NATIONALISM

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Chapters 38 & 39 Grieg & Dvorak NATIONALISM