UNTc18
A sudden dynamic change occurs in music when the volume drastically changes from soft to loud, or from loud to soft, without any gradation between the two. Eighteenth century composers often employed this effect in their music.
When the articulation “staccato” is applied to a musical note, the note in question is shortened and detached. A staccato is indicated by a small dot placed above or below a note. In the provided recording, staccatos are first heard in the horns and then the flutes. While this form of articulation is not a product of the eighteenth century, it was used by composers of the period as a means of adding character to a piece or advancing a musical line.
A triplet is a rhythmic feature in which a beat is subdivided into three. Triplets were a common feature of the galant style of the eighteenth century.
This excerpt includes 15 examples of triplets played by violins, both ascending and descending.
A melodic sequence occurs when a motive repeats at a higher or lower pitch. Melodic sequences are used primarily for elaboration and expansion of a melody.
This excerpt includes two melodic sequences back-to-back, the first descending in pitch and the second ascending. The excerpt is taken from the Finale of "Mythologische Operette" by Michael Haydn.
This example shows the drastic dynamic changes between two utterances of the same thematic motive using an excerpt from Count Ferdinand Waldstein’s Sinfonie in D, movement one. The first iteration of the theme is performed forte, or loud. The same theme is repeated and then performed piano, or soft, creating a type of “echo effect.” This was a popular eighteenth century technique as it demonstrated the musical organization and precision of the ensemble and emphasized certain musical phrases for the listeners.
A trill is an ornament performed by moving rapidly between the main note and the note above it. It is normally notated in music by placing a “tr” in superscript above the note that is trilled. In the example from the first movement of Count Ferdinand Waldstein’s Sinfonie in D, the trill is played by the oboe and first violin parts as an ending to the reprise to the second theme. Trills were often used to exaggerate the resolution of a phrase in the eighteenth century.
Syncopation, in music, is the displacement of rhythms so the musical emphasis is on the weak beat. In this excerpt from Count Ferdinand Waldstein’s Sinfonie in D, movement one, the first and second violin parts use a syncopated rhythm to emphasize the off-beat of the music while the bass line keeps a steady eighth note pulse. Eighteenth century galant composers commonly used syncopation in their music, giving their compositions musical interest.
The trombone was still a relatively new instrument, having only developed from the sackbut sometime in the late 1600's/early 1700's, when Michael Haydn composed his Serenade. Because of how new the instrument was the trombone was rarely featured as a solo instrument, but, when it was, it was often the alto trombone that was given the solo. Of the four types of trombones used at the time: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, the alto projected the best and had the clearest sound.
Detaching the bass line from the melody and using repeated notes instead of contrapuntal ideas was a compositional technique commonly used in 18th century galant style music. This excerpt shows a bass line that is doing just that. Often the bass repeats the same note throughout an entire bar, while the melody moves above without directly interacting with it.