MUS201

Posted: January 5th, 2023

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MUS201

Introduction

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) gained fame during the latter parts of the Classical and early Romantic periods. The Austrian composer did live for long like most of his counterparts during similar period, but the huge collection of works he left behind a huge collection of works that continue to impact on music production in many ways (Kaiser 30). Before his untimely death in November 1828, Schubert had produced several symphonies, operas, and a wide range of piano and sacred music (Kaiser 31). Born and raised in the conurbations of Vienna, Schubert displayed unique talents for music from a tender age. His father and his elder brother played vital functions in nurturing his abilities to play musical instruments such as piano and violin (Kaiser 31). However, Schubert soon outshone them, especially after he had gained significant musical skills from Stadtkonvikt School. He spent time learning the styles of earlier artists such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn while at Stadtkonvikt, artists who influenced his productions significantly (Kaiser 37). Schubert got the chance to better his musical skills in 1821 when he became a member and performed at the renowned Society of Friends of Music in Vienna, which still retains its position as one of the best theaters in Vienna (Kaiser 40). The study examines a two-minute clip on Schubert’s fourth symphony, and describes the different musical features as developed in the first few seconds of the clip. The features help to understand the components that Schubert applied in most of his productions.

Evaluating a Clip

Schubert’s Symphony No 4 is one of the highly praised composition by the artist. Ernst Theodor Amadeus (1776-1822) who published many romantic works praised many classical artists in his compositions, including Mozart’s Symphony No 40, Beethoven’s fifth symphony, and Schubert’s Symphony No 4 as some of the most essential works of the Classical and Romantic era (Mozart 27). The form of Symphony No 4 that was created in 1816 largely borrows Mozart’s Symphony No 40 and Symphony No 5 by Beethoven in the way it takes the structure of a sonata. This means that its musical structure comprises of three chief components; the exposition phase, development stage, and recapitulation stage (Allegraud et al. 2; Beach 2). Schubert dedicates much time and skills in producing Symphony No 4 way tunes moves systematically from one pattern to the other. The significant influence the composition continues to have on modern societies further shows the considerable effort the artist invested in Symphony No 4. Nonetheless, the following additional features provide more information about the composition that continues to have significant impact in making music, especially in symphony production.

Time

Time is a vital factor to consider in musical production. A composition should neither be too short to deny the audience enough time to interact with the work nor too long to bore listeners or viewers. Thus, composers should really consider the amount of time they want their work to last. An artist should focus on works that the audience can listen to without becoming impatient. The running time for Symphony No 4 that forms the focus of the study is 2 minutes 55 seconds.

Melody

The melody follows the C minor pattern, where players focus on particular pitches, especially Bb, Ab, C, G, F, and D (Trainor and Huron Unrau 225). The chief feature of the melody Schubert employs is it has three primary flats. The composition also displays the melodious effects of the C major pitches, such as D, A, G, F, and C (Trainor and Huron Unrau 225). The interaction between the two helps to create a more appealing melody that has a soothing effect to the audience.

Instruments

Schubert uses various instruments to make Symphony No 4 more attractive to the audience, but sticks to what earlier artists such as Mozart and Beethoven used to maintain the originality. They basically falls into three categories, string, bass, and brass instruments. The evident string instruments in the composition are double bass, cello, violin, and viola (Schubert). The brass instruments that create a blowing effect in the production are trombone, trumpet, and tuba. The percussion instruments that Schubert uses, and which are vital components of producing a symphony are piano, triangles, timpani, and different types of drums (Schubert). The artist also uses oboes, flutes, and clarinets, which give the composition a distinct sound and effect. Beethoven uses many instruments in the presentation to make it appealing to the audience and quite sophisticated in nature.

Tonality

Schubert put much attention to producing Symphony No 4, which resulted in a distinct tonality. The tonality is as a result of the arrangement of chords and pitches of a musical composition in an order that the composer finds appropriate. The chords of the C minor and major that Schubert used in Symphony No 4 creates an allegretto tone, which means a slightly slower pace than allegro, which refers to a music pattern that moves relatively fast thereby giving the composition a distinct tone. However, the slow tone does not deprive the composition of its steady periodic sound that maintains a particular pitch and intensity.

Texture

The texture of any musical production is essential in creating an effect that impact on the audience. Huron (133) describes texture in music refers to the diversity and number of activities in the field of sound. Huron (133) further argues that diversity and number are available in all fields of sound, encompassing silence, therefore, texture is a component of all sounded activities. Therefore, Schubert’s Symphony No 4 could be termed as employing a polyphonic musical structure, which implies that its texture comprises of more than two independent melodies, as opposed to a production that employs a monophonic texture whereby only a single performer takes center stage, mostly with a one instrument. 

Dynamics

Dynamics in music refers to how loudness differ in any musical composition. The variations in loudness between phrases or certain notes determine the dynamics of a musical production. It is imperative not to confuse dynamics with tempo, because the latter primarily focuses on the pace or speed of a given musical production measured based on beat per minute (BPM) (Oakes 685), while the former focuses on the loudness Kamenetsky, Hill and Trehub 151). One would describe Schubert’s Symphony No 4 as being loud enough for the audience to get the sounds and instruments well. However, it is apparent that the level of loudness alternates from one part of the composition to the other, which helps the audience to identify the polyphonic effects of the production.

Interpreting the Clip

The clip shows how producing a symphony requires team work. The clip showing different people playing the various instruments, and they all follow particular structures. The clip reveals that it is not possible to come up with and present such as a prolific masterpiece without engaging others who give their views on the matter (Naumik).

The two-minute clip presents valuable information about the kind of work Schubert produced that may help modern producers and artists to come up with works that maintain the original authentic features. The level of mastery employed in producing the short clip shows the need to pay attention to balance and elegance by ensuring that all those who play various instruments adhere to the keys and do not make any mistakes. Producers and artists need to focus on producing short well-formulated melodies associated with symphonic production. In addition, analyzing Schubert’s Symphony No 4 reveals how it may be important to come up with a polyphonic production that requires the application of multiple instruments. Only focusing on simple homophonic or diatonic frameworks that are less sophisticated are not likely to intrigue the audience’s interest in the composition. Symphony No 4 shows the need to develop a work that displays contrasting moods as a strategy for attracting the audience’s attention. Missing one or more of these features may make a symphonic production less appealing, unless the artist uses other ways to make the work attractive to the audience.

Analyzing Symphony No 4 presents other valuable information that may shape one’s production of similar kind of music. Schubert’s Symphony No 4 begins with an allegro (slow pace), but slightly ascends as the music progresses. However, the tempo alternates from one point to the other. Starting at a low pace grabs the audiences’ attention and prepares them for what comes ahead. Moreover, producers and artists need to be familiar with the various movement forms that have emerged in symphony production. Disregarding these key requirements may deny artists the chance to become famous and appreciated as it happened with Schubert’s Symphony No 4 that the artist was keen during production. It is because great artists like Beethoven followed the foundation established by pioneering fathers such as Joseph Haydn and Mozart that he managed to produce some of the most fascinating symphonies (Lewis). However, it would be difficult to produce works that appear as retaining some of the key components if artists who came afterwards could not retain certain key features.

It is important to take all the measures to preserve the original features of symphonies because Bertolini (6) argues that orchestras still act as admired cultural facilities, which are still influential toady. Various stakeholders should come out and assist artists achieve their objectives and come up with works that have considerable impact on the audience (Bertolini 6). The support is necessary because orchestras are not perceived as a form of mass entertainment, and many groups and individual artists largely rely on corporate, government, and philanthropic sponsorships (Bertolini 6). Symphonies are great and appealing forms of music, and aiming at coming up with quality work as Schubert did increases the chances of preserving the culture in the modern society. 

Conclusion

The report focuses on a two-minute clip showing Schubert’s Symphony No 4. It is one of highly praised compositions because of the keenness the composer employed during its formation. Other than being of the highly values productions by Schubert, the clip displays some musical components associated with classical symphonic productions. Its melody is based on pitch C minor and C major, which play valuable functions in giving the musical piece its tonality. The texture of the section sampled is polyphonic, which means that its composer employs a wide range of instruments and structures to come up with an outcome that appeals to the audience. The music is loud enough for the audience to grasp all aspects, but the dynamics alter from one point to the other. The study illustrates the need for current artists to embrace features that preserve traditional forms, and urges various teams to come out openly and support the genre.

Works Cited

Allegraud, Pierre et al. “Learning Sonata Form Structure on Mozart’s String Quartets.” Retrieval, vol. 2, no. 1, 2019, pp. 82-96.

Allegraud et al. pay considerable attention the musical form of sonata. The author attributes the growth and use of the form of music to classical musicians such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven (Allegraud et al. 2).

Beach, David. “Schubert’s Experiments with Sonata Form: Formal-Tonal Design versus Underlying Structure.” Music Theory Spectrum, vol. 15, no. 1, 1993, pp.1-18.

The primary goal of the article is to examine how Schubert employed the sonata form in his compositions. Beach (4) describes how Schubert paid considerable attention to the key distinctions between musical structures and designs before choosing to use any particular approach.

Bertolini, Daniel. “Management and Structure of the Symphony Orchestra: A Professional Orchestra Case-Study Into The Techniques And Philosophy Applied Within The Industry.” Project: Classical Music for Millennials: Shifts in management and communication for the modern audience. Doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30708.19846

The paper examines how to improve their management of professional orchestras to achieve artistic and business goals. Bertolini (4) implies that symphonic productions are bound to fail without embracing effective appropriate ways of preserving the classical forms.

Huron, David. “Characterizing musical textures.” 1989, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298815999_Characterizing_Musical_Textures Accessed 17 March 2021

Huron provides clear description of what texture in music means and its possible impact. The document shows that texture implies to other features that are present within a musical composition Huron (133 Huron).

Huxtable, Ryan. “Beethoven: A Life of Sound and Silence.” Molecular Interventions, vol. 1, no. 1, 2001, pp. 8-12.

The paper provides a history of Beethoven’s early and late life (Huxtable 8). It explains his successes and failures and his ultimate deafness.

Naumik, Victor. “Immortal Beloved – Ode to Joy Night Scene.” 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4VouG_EO60  Accessed 17 March 2021

The film helps to understand how the composition by Beethoven had significance impact on many people. It helps to understand how putting much effort on a particular thing has positive benefits.

Kaiser, Gloria. Franz Schubert 1797-1828: A Literary Biography. Ariadne Press, 2013.

Kaiser describes the biography of Schubert. Kaiser (32) says that the works by Schubert received considerable support back then and still have influence in modern society.

Kamenetsky, Stuart, Hill David and Trehub Sandra. “Effect of Tempo and Dynamics on the Perception of Emotion in Music.” Psychology of Music, vol. 25, no. 2, 1997, pp. 149-160.

The paper addresses the possible impact of tempo and dynamics on how the audience perceive emotion in music (Kamenetsky, Hill and Trehub 150. The document helps to understand what these two aspects mean (tempo and dynamics as applied in music).

Lewis, Susan. “This is why Beethoven’s Symphony no. 5 is so Incredibly Popular.” WRTI, 1 September, 2020, https://www.wrti.org/post/why-beethovens-symphony-no-5-so-incredibly-popular  Accessed 17 March 2021

Lewis describes why Symphony No 5 is more common and adorable among many people. Lewis shows how the composer took time to come up with a plan that would influence the work.

Oakes, Steve. “Musical Tempo and Waiting Perceptions.” Psychology and Marketing, vol. 20,

            no. 8, 2003, pp. 685-705.

Oakes provides valuable information regarding the concept of tempo as applied in musical production. Oakes (685) provides the meaning of tempo, and describes the possible effects of tempo in a composition.

Schubertm Franz. “Symphony No. 4 “Tragic”.” YouTube, 21 March, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XGjsoTaj_I Accessed 17 March 2021

The two-minute clip shows the performance of Symphony No. 4. It helps the audience to identify all the features associated with composition.

Mozart, Wolfgang. Mozart – Symphony no. 40 in G Minor/Symphony No. 41 in C Major. Hal Leonard, 2003.

The source helps to understand the mechanisms Mozart used to produce various composition, but pays considerable attention to Symphony No 40 (Mozart 21). The source is helpful because it provides valuable information about the composition under analysis.

Trainor, Laurel and Unrau Jael. “Development of pitch and music perception.” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283464853_Development_of_pitch_and_music_perception Accessed 17 March 2021

The source is helpful to the study because it describes the possible impact of pitch in music (Trainor and Unrau 225). It is relevant in this case because it provides clear information about the composition’s melody.