Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Essays

Prelude to “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg” – Richard Wagner The first piece played by the University Symphony Orchestra was a prelude to an opera by Richard Wagner. The instrumentation of the piece included flutes, oboes, clarinets, violins, bassoons, French horns, trumpets, viola, trombone, tuba, harp, timpani, bass, and the cello. To me, the piece sounded like it was in quadruple meter. The piece had a very dramatic start with a quick tempo and forte dynamics. The tempo remained fairly quick throughout

Amadeus begins with an attempted suicide by composer Antonio Salieri, who has been overcome with guilt about supposedly killing Mozart. His life is saved by his aides as they find him in the room covered in blood; and he is sent to what looks like some kind of a mental hospital, where a priest Father Volger is sent to council him and listen to his guilt. He recounts his tale of music, passion, and jealousy, introducing one of the defining elements of their upbringing. Mozart, although he does not

Nationalism constitutes a “belief which, in the course of the nineteenth century, became the governing idea without always being held by those in government…” (Miles). This was a majorly influential factor in the music of the romantic period, both conceptually and musically. Along with being a great factor in shaping romantic music as we know it today, it was also a powerful political tool, used to communicate ones political opinions and agendas. One such example of nationalistic composers was Richard

Symphony Fantastique commentary- March to the Scaffold. This movement comes at the point in the piece where thee hero (most likely Berlioz) believes that although he has fallen in love with a captivatingly beautiful woman, he is convinced that it is an unrequited love. As a reaction to this, the hero poisons himself with opium to commit suicide. However this does not ultimately kill him- instead he is knocked out cold and and is inflicted with vivid visions. In these visions he has a dream that