Collision of Classical and Romantic

【Abstract】： Trio in C Major， Hob XV：21 of Hyadn and Trio in A Minor， Op.50 of Tchaikovsky are two definitely different trio pieces， but they can be performed in one concert. It is the collision of two periods： Classical and Romantic periods. This paper will compare these two pieces by the differences of genre， style and so on to help others to know them well.

【Keywords】： Classical； Romantic； Trio； Contrast

On April 9th， there was a concert of two trios of Haydn and Tchaikovsky at New Britain Museum of America Art， which was my first concert to go to in America. The trio consisted of one violin， one cello and one piano， and performers were Gerard Rosa（violin）， Julie Ribchinsky （cello） and Linda Laurent（piano）， who are the professors of Central Connecticut State University. A large number of audiences filled the hall. Most audiences dressed formally， and I really surprised about their attitude. Before the beginning of this concert， audience chatted with each other， but when the concert started， they just stopped talking and were quiet. From this， I felt that the audience who came there really love music， and they looked forward to a wonderful concert.

The program of this concert is very simple. It’s just a white paper with a brief introduction of the composers： Haydn and Tchaikovsky， and two pieces： Trio in C Major， Hob XV：21 and Trio in A Minor， Op.50. The performers introduced the pieces before they played to help audiences to understand， which is a little different from China. It is easier， of course， to know the pieces well for audience. It is interesting that there was no stage there， and it seemed the distance between performers and audience was closer.

1.Trio in C Major， Hob XV：21

The hall was bright in that time， and the sunshine went in by penetrating the French windows， which suited the first piece——Haydn： Trio in C Major， Hob XV：21. As we all know， this piece of Haydn is a classical music. It is so liquid and fast in the first and the third movement， and silent， relaxed and slower in the second movement. The contrast between these three movements makes a strong feeling. The notes and rhythm just flowed， which was like a girl dancing in the hall. The theme is prominent and from minimum to maximum， which means we can distinguish them easily. The mood of this whole piece is light， and made us to walk on the moon.

2.Trio in A Minor， Op.50

The second piece is Tchaikovsky： Trio in A Minor， Op.50. After a very traditional Classical music， the low notes， which were played by the piano performer， beat my heart when they came out. Also， the piece is end with slow， low notes. It is tragic and dramatic， and also it made me sad. I could not control to think about what the background story is about this piece？ Then， I found the answer from the introduction of program—— it is a memory of a great artist named Nikolay Rubinstein. The theme of sadness just fill in the music. It is so much Tchaikovsky！ Maybe when he composed these pieces， he put his own life in them. It is just like， we can read the story by these pieces. Of course， there are still more fragments in this piece. He tried to use the same theme to create completely different moods.

3. Differences

These two pieces are very different， like the mood， or the construction of musical form. They both are trios， but the piece of Haydn has three movements， the piece of Tchaikovsky only has two movements. Tchaikovsky has his own innovation in music. The melody in Tchaikovsky is more complicated than Haydn， and so is the chords. Tchaikovsky’s piece has the apparent Romantic element. These two pieces both use a lot of high notes to express the mood of lyric. But the second piece always uses octaves to express a large scene， so the feelings are stronger. Also， the functions of instruments in the second piece is more varied， and the alternation of three instruments cooperates is better than the first one. Moreover， the technique is higher in second piece， and texture and rhythm are more complicated. All in all， Haydn’s pieces are always bright and elegant， which is so classical. And because of the own life and the impact of Romantic， Tchaikovsky tended to compose the tragic pieces.

4.Conclusion

There is no doubt that the performers were successful， because I could catch the feelings of the pieces. I admire that， and also， that is what I must learn. So I like both. They represent the different genres， and different styles. They both are excellent， representative pieces， and we can feel the emotions which composers really wanted us to understand what they expressed by the music. It is the attraction of music. In other word， it is like that the musical pieces preserve the composers’ everything， which can make them vivid.

References：

[1] David Wyn Jones. The Life of Haydn. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press， 2013.

[2] Daniel Felsenfeld. Tchaikovsky： A Listener’s Guide Book. Chicago： Amadeus Press， 2007.

作者簡(jiǎn)介：翟雪（1991.05—），女，漢族，山東濟(jì)南人，山東師范大學(xué)音樂(lè)學(xué)院音樂(lè)與舞蹈學(xué)專業(yè)碩士在讀，主攻鋼琴理論與實(shí)踐研究方向。