Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 43

(eBook PDF) Take Note: An

Introduction to Music Through Active


Listening
Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-take-note-an-introduction-to-music-throug
h-active-listening/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

(eBook PDF) The Essential Listening to Music

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-the-essential-listening-
to-music/

(eBook PDF) Listening to Music (Book Only) 8th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-listening-to-music-book-
only-8th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Listening to Western Music 7th Edition by


Wright

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-listening-to-western-
music-7th-edition-by-wright/

(eBook PDF) Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the


Music of the World's Peoples 6th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-worlds-of-music-an-
introduction-to-the-music-of-the-worlds-peoples-6th-edition/
(eBook PDF) African American Music: An Introduction 2nd
Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-african-american-music-
an-introduction-2nd-edition/

(eBook PDF) Biostatistics with R An Introduction to


Statistics Through Biological Data

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-biostatistics-with-r-an-
introduction-to-statistics-through-biological-data/

(eBook PDF) Introduction to Music Education 4th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-introduction-to-music-
education-4th-edition/

(eBook PDF) Through the Lens of Anthropology: An


Introduction to Human Evolution and Culture, Second
Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-through-the-lens-of-
anthropology-an-introduction-to-human-evolution-and-culture-
second-edition/

(eBook PDF) Thinking Like an Engineer An Active


Learning Approach 3rd

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-thinking-like-an-
engineer-an-active-learning-approach-3rd/
How to register for Dashboard
Visit www.oup.com/us/dashboard Login or create a new
• Th is homepage includes links to infor mation • Dashboard account
about Dashboa rd, t he Das hboa rd Yo uTu be If you have previously enrolled in a Dash boa rd
Channel, as wel l as links to regist er for Dash- cou rse, you may log in to Dashboard w ith you r
boa rd and con nect to you r Dashboard co urse. existi ng credent ials. Otherwise, su pply you r
desired usern ame (lowercase with no spaces)
and click "Login ."
Click ''Activate or Register for
• your Dashboard Account''
Enter your personal information
to create your account
Select the OUP textbook that pairs
• with the OUP Dashboard component
Be su re to check t he box agreei ng to the Dash-
boa rd Terms and Conditions.
from the list of available courses

Complete your checkout


0 Select your institution
You r accou nt is created as soon as checkout is
complete. Visit www.oup.com/us/dashboard
Select your instructor and click "Log in to Dashboa rd" to log in and ac-
• cess you r cou rse. If you have registered pri or
to your cou rse sta rt date, you wi ll be unab le to
0 Select your course section
Click the "Buy or Redeem Access Code" but-
access t he content u nti l your cou rse start date.

ton next to you r sectio n t o ad d th e cou rse t o


you r ca rt .
Need help?
You can access a list of frequent ly asked ques-
Enter the access code and click
• ''Recalculate'' to apply the code
tions, includi ng the Dashboa rd refu nd policy,
at http://register.dashboard.oup.com/
You can fi nd the uniq ue access code in t he catalog?pagename=FAQ.
" My Notes" tab of Re nta l Deta il in the " My For help with registration or using you r
Bookshelf" area of you r Cou r seSma rt accou nt . Dashboard cou r se, send an emai l to
dashboa rd.su pport@oup.com
Contents
Contents in Brief v
Contents vii
Guide to the Core Repertory of Musical Works xxi
Letter from the Author xxiii
About the Author xxiii
Preface xxv
Acknowledgments xxix

CHAPTER 1 • Learning to Listen Actively 1


Take Note 1
Chapter Objectives 2
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 2
Active Listening 2
The Listening Situatio1\ 2
A Core Repertory of Works 3
Key Elements of Music 3
Form 4
T i mbre 4
Rhythm and Meter 4
M elody S
Harmony S
Texture 6
Music in Context 6
Music and Text 6
Mus ic and Drama 6
Listening Practice 7
An Emotional Resp onse to Mus ic 7
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIOE: Dvorak: Slavonic Dance in E minor,
op. 72, no. 10 8
focus On Antonin Dvorak (1841- 1904) 8
In History Ovofak's Slavonic Dance in E minor, op. 72, no. 10 9
From Emotional to Active Listening 9
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIOE: Mozart: Symphony no. 40 in G minor, K. 550 11
Focus On Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756- 1791) 12
If You Liked This Music . . . 12
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIOE: Bach: Concerto in D minor for harpsichord
and strings, BWV 1052 14
Focus On Original Instruments 15
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIOE: Crumb: Black Angels 17
focus On George Crumb (b. 1929) 17

vii
•••
VIII Contents

Active Listening 18
Summary 18
Review Questions 19
Review Concepts 19
Listening Exercises 19
Guide to the Instruments of the Orchestra 21
PART1
LISTENING CHAPTER 2 • Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Music 33
Take Note 33
THROUGH
Chapter Objectives 34
HISTORY
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 34
The Periods of Music History 34
Establishing the Periods of Classical Music 34
Medieval Music 35
Renaissance Music 38
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Josquin: Missa "L'homme arme" super voces
musicales, Kyrie 42
Focus On Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (ca . 1525-1594) 43
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Pa lestrina: Sicut cervus 44
Baroque Music 44
The Baroque Audience 45
Instruments of the Baroque Repertory 45
Musical Elements of the Baroque Repertory 46
The Baroque Style 48
Monteverdi's Io son pur vezzosetta 48
Focus On The Basso Continuo 49
Focus On Claud io Monteverdi (1567-1643) 51
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Monteverdi : /o son pur vezzosetta, from Madrigals,
Book 7 52
Across the Arts Sonnet XXX by William Shakespeare 53
Bach's Mass in B minor 54
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Bach: Mass in B minor, Gloria 54
Focus On Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) 56
In History Bach's Mass in B minor 58
If You Liked This Music . . . 59
Summary 60
Review Questions 60
Review Concepts 60
Listening Exercises 61

CHAPTER 3 • Classical and Romantic Music 62


Take Note 62
Chapter Objectives 63
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 63
Classical Music 63
The Classical Audience 63
Instruments of the Classical Repertory 63

Contents IX

Musical Elements of the Classical Repertory 65


Mozart's Serenade no. 10, Gran Partita 66
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart: Serenade no. 10, Gran Partita, K. 361 66
M ozart's Le nozze di Figaro 67
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro,
(The marriage of Figaro) K. 492, "Dove sono" 68
Hayd n's String Q u artet in B-flat major 69
Focus On Joseph Haydn (1732- 1809) 70
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Haydn: String Quartet in B-f lat major,
op. 6 4, no. 3 71
Beethoven's Symphony no. S 72
The Symphony as Musical Story-Telling 72
Focus On Ludwig van Beet hoven (1770-1827) 74
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Beethoven : Symphony no. 5 in C minor, op. 67 75
Romantic Music 76
The Romantic Audience 77
Inst ruments of the Romantic Repertory 77
Across the Arts Will iam Blake's Union of Poet ry and Pa inting 80
Musical Elements of the Romant ic Repertory 80
Chopin's Ballade in G minor 81
Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette 81
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Chop in: Bal lade no. 1 in G minor, op. 23 82
Focus On Frederic Chopin (18 10-1849) 83
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette, Ohe, Capulets! 84
Focus On Hector Berl ioz (1803-1869) 85
Smetana's Sarka 86
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Smet ana: Sarka, f rom Ma vlast (My Homeland) 86
Focus On Bedfich Smetana (1824-1884) 87
In History Smet ana's Sarka 88
If You Liked This Music. .. 88
Summary 89
Review Questions 89
Review Concepts 90
Listening Exercises 90

CHAPTER 4 • The Twentieth Century and Beyond:


Modernism and Jazz 91
Take Note 91
Chapter Objectives 92
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 92
Modern Music 92
The M odern Audience 92
Instruments of the Modern Classical Repertory 94
Musical Elements of the Modern Rep ertory 9 S
Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms 96
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms 97
Focus On Igor Stravinsky (1882- 1971) 98
x Contents

Across the Arts Of Cathed rals an d Skyscrapers- Architectu re t hat


Joins Earth an d Sky 98
D ebussy's Sonat a for Flute, Viola, and H arp 100
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Deb ussy: Sonata for flute , vio la, and harp 100
Focus On Claude Debussy (1862- 1918) 101
Contemporary Music 102
Listening to Jazz-Sophisticated Music with Popular Roots 104
The Story Behind Lester Leaps In 104
Focus On William " Count " Basie (1904- 1984) 105
Focus On Lester Young and the Original 1939 Recordi ng of Lester Leaps In 106
First Impressions of Lester Leaps In 106
Listening Closely to L ester Leaps In 108
Across the Arts A Jazz Pattern in t he Poet ry of E. E. Cummings 109
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Wi lliam "Count" Basie: Lester Leaps In, first chorus 111
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: William " Count" Basie: Lester Leaps In 112
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: William " Count" Bas ie: Lester Leaps In 113
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: William " Count" Basie: Lester Leaps In 114
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: William " Count" Bas ie: Lester Leaps In 115
Taking It All In 117
If You Liked This Music. . . 117
In History Basie's Lester Leaps In 118
Summary 118
Review Questions 119
Review Concepts 119
Listening Exercises 119
PART2
LISTENING CHAPTER 5 e Form 121
Take Note 121
THROUGH
Chapter Objectives 122
MUSICAL
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 122
ELEMENTS Building Blocks of Musical Form 123
Repetition-Based Forms 124
Strophic Form 124
Focus On Franz Sch ubert (1797- 1828) 126
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Sch ubert : Winterreise, Die Post 126
If You Liked This Music . . . 127
Modified Stroph ic Form 128
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Sch ubert : Winterreise, Der Lindenbaum 129
Variation F orm 130
Focus On Fo ll owing t he Score 132
Focus On The Clarinet 133
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart : Gran Partita, K. 361 135
Contrast and Return-Based Forms 136
In History Mozart 's Gran Partita 137
Tern ary Form 137
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Haydn: Stri ng Quartet in B-flat major, op. 64, no. 3 139
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart : Gran Partita, K. 361 Ron do Form 140

Contents XI

LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart: Gran Partita, K. 361 141


Sonata Form 141
Across the Arts How Music Tells a Story 142
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart : Symphony no. 40 in G minor, K. 550 144
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Ives: Viol in Sonata no. 4 ("Ch ildren's Day at the Camp
Meet ing") 145
Multimovement Forms 146
The Symphonic Model 146
If You Liked This Music . . . 149
The Suite Model 149
Other Approaches to Form 150
Steady Growth Arch Form 150
Forms for Music with Text 151
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Machaut: Foy porter, vi relai 151
Summary 153
Review Questions 154
Review Concepts 154
Listening Exercises 155

CHAPTER 6 • Timbre: The Character of a Sound 156


Take Note 156
Chapter Objectives 157
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 157
Timbre and Design of Musical Instruments 157
Sounds of the Voice 158
Across the Arts The Painter's Art 159
Voices and Vocal Ranges 160
Vocal Timbre in Opera 160
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Verd i: Otello, Act 1, Love duet 162
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Bach: Mass in B minor, Gloria, "Domine Deus,
rex coelestis" 164
Focus On Countertenors 165
Many Voices, One Timbre: The Choir 166
Voice and Orchestra: Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette 167
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette, Recitatif choral 167
Timbres of the Orchestra 169
The String Section 169
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette, Scene d'amour,
beginning 170
The Woodwind Section 171
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart : Gran Partita, K. 361 171
The Brass Section 172
Timbres of Percussion Instruments 173
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Gould: An American Salute, beginning 173
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Dallap iccola : Canti di prigionia 174
Percussion Timbres in Non-Western Music 175
Chamber Ensembles 175
xii Contents

LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Gender Wayang, Sukawati (Sulendro) 176


LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Haydn: String Quartet in B-flat major, op. 64,
no. 3, 2nd movement 177
Timbre in Performance 178
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Vandervelde: Genesis II for piano trio 179
Timbre as Structural Division : Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms 180
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms 181
Timbre as Sonic Exp eriment: Crumb's Black Angels 182
In History Crumb's Black Angels 183
Summary 183
Review Questions 184
Review Concepts 184
Listening Exercises 184

CHAPTER 7 • Rhythm and Meter 185


Take Note 185
Chapter Objectives 186
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 186
Components of Rhythm 186
Beat 186
Meter 186
Accent 186
Tempo 187
Exploring Meter 187
D uple Meter: Sousa and Count Basie 187
Triple Meter: Dvofak's Slavonic Dance 189
Across the Arts Shakespeare's Rhyth m 189
Focus On Anton in Dvorak (1841- 1904) 190
Listening Closely for Meter 190
H ow D vorak Shifts the Rhythm 191
Across the Arts How Meter Shifts in Poetry 191
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Dvorak: Slavonic Dance in E minor,
op. 72, no. 10 192
Syncopation: Where's the Beat? 193
Swing: Lester Leaps In 193
Syncopation in Classical Music: Bach 's Concerto in D minor for H arpsich ord
and Strings 193
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: William "Count" Basie: Lester Leaps In 194
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Bach: Concerto in D minor for harpsichord
and strings, BWV 1052 195
H aydn the Beat 195
Focus On Joseph Haydn (1732- 1809) 196
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Haydn: String Quartet in B-flat major,
op. 64, no. 3 197
In History Haydn's String Quartet in B-flat major, op. 64, no. 3 198
•••
Contents XIII

Compound Meters 199


Compound Meters in the Middle Ages: Machaut 199
Across the Arts The Medieval Worldview 200
If You Liked This Music. . . 201
Compound Meter in Romantic Music: A Chopin Ballade 201
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Chop in: Ballade no. 1 in G minor, op. 23
beginning 202
Disguising the Meter: Debussy and Impressionism 202
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Debussy: Sonata for f lute, viola,
and harp 203
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Debussy: Sonata for f lute, viola,
and harp 205
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Debussy: Sonata for f lute, viola,
and harp 206
The 20th Century: Rhythmic Freedom 207
Irregular Meters: Ives's Sonata no. 4
207
Focus On Charles Ives (1874-1954) 208
Irregular Compound Meters: Vandervelde's Genesis II 209
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Vanderve lde: Genesis II for piano trio, beginning 209
Polymeters: Global Music 209
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Jumping Dance Drums 210
If You Liked This Music . . . 211
Summary 211
Review Questions 212
Review Concepts 212
Listening Exercises 212

CHAPTER 8 e Melody 213


Take Note 213
Chapter Objectives 214
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 214
Melodic Lines in a Non-Western Melody 214
Melody in Western Music 215
Musical Intervals 215
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Raga Bhankar 216
In History Raga Bhankar 216
If You Liked This Music. . . 217
Rhythm and Melody 217
Phrase Structure 218
Roots of Modern Melody 218
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Dvorak: Slavonic Dance in E minor,
op. 72, no. 10 opening melody 219
Across the Arts Dvorak, Dance, and Poetry 219
Balanced Phrase Structure: The Dies irae 220
The First Two Stanzas 220
xiv Con ten ts

LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Thomas of Celano: Dies irae 221


Stanzas Three and Four 223
Melodic Phrase Structure: From Celano to Chopin and Debussy 223
Internal Repetition: A Chopin Nocturne 223
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Chopin : Nocturne in A-flat major, op. 32,
no. 2, beginning 224
Melodic Disguise: Debussy 225
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola,
and harp 225
Musical Motives 225
The Opening Notes as Motive: Beethoven's Fifth Symphony 226
Focus On E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) 227
Motivic Cohesiveness: The Second Theme of Beethoven's Fifth
Symphony 228
Melody and Thematic Development: The Development Section 228
Binding It All Together: The Recapitulation 228
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Beethoven: Symphony no. 5 in C
minor, op . 67 229
Motive and Melody 230
If You Liked This Music . . . 230
Thematic Development in Mozart 231
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart: Gran Partita, K. 361 231
Summary 232
Review Questions 233
Review Concepts 233
Listening Exercises 233

CHAPTER 9 • Harmony and Texture 234


Take Note 234
Chapter Objectives 235
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 235
The Middle Ages: Texture 235
Monophonic Texture 235
Focus On Gregorian Chant 237
Polyphonic Texture 237
The Renaissance: Counterpoint Comes to the Fore 238
A Masterpiece of Polyphonic Texture: Josquin's Miss a
{(L'homme arme" 238
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Josquin: Missa "L'homme arme" super voces
musicales, Kyrie 239
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Josquin: Missa "L'homme arme" super voces
musicales, Agnus Dei 240
Focus On Josquin des Prez (ca. 1450-1521) 241
The Baroque: Counterpoint Yields to Harmony 241
Homophonic Texture 242
Functional Harmony 243
Focus On Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) 244
Contents xv

Fugal Texture 244


LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Bach: Mass in 8 m inor, BWV 232,
"Cum Sanct o Spi ritu" fuga l sections 245
The Classical Period: Functional Harmony Reigns 246
Major and Minor: The Exposition of Mozart's Symphony no. 40 246
Polyphony in the Development 247
The Recapitulation: The Original Texture Returns 248
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart : Symphony no. 40 in G m inor, K. 550 249
The Romantic Period: Harmony Begins to Change 250
Harmonic Enrichment: Ch opin's Nocturne in A-flat Major 250
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Chop in: Nocturne in A-flat major, op. 32, no. 2 251
Harmonic Revolution: Wagner's Tristan und Isolde 251
Focus On Richard Wagner (1813-1883) 252
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Prelude, beginning 253
If You Liked This Music.
. . 253
The Modern Period: Dissonance is Set Free 254
Harmony as an Adjective: Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp 254
Across the Arts Color and Suggestion 255
If You Liked This Music.
. . 256
Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms: Echoing Bach 256
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms 256
In History Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms 258
The Later 20th Century and Beyond: Anything Can Happen 258
Focus On Janika Vanderve lde (b. 1955) 259
Crumb's Black Angels: Part II: Absence 260
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Crumb: Black Angels 260
Crumb's Black Angels: Part Ill: Return 261
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Crumb: Black Angels 261
Harmony, Texture, and Meaning 262
Summary 262
Review Questions 263
Review Concepts 263
Listening Exercises 264
PART3
CHAPTER 10 e Music and Text 265 BRINGING
Take Note 265
IT ALL
Chapter Objectives 266
TOGETHER
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 266
Fitting Music and Text Together 266
Schubert: Winterreise) Der Lindenbaum 266
If You Liked This Music. . . 267
Focus On The Piano 268
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Schubert, Winterreise, Der Lindenbaum 269
Text as Drama: Winterreise) Die Post 270
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Schubert, Winterreise, Die Post 270
Polytextuality 2 71
In History Schubert's Winterreise 272
xvi Contents

LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Machaut: Lasse! comment oublieray/Se }'aim mon


loyal/Pour quoy me bat mes maris? 273
How Music and Text Communicate 276
Semantic Content: The Sense 277
Phonetic Quality: The Sound 2 77
Syntax: The Structure 278
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Sch umann: Dichterliebe, !ch grol/e nicht 279
Can These Qualities Conflict? 279
Interpreting Persona 280
The Composer's Persona: Schubert's Der L eiermann 280
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Sch ubert: Winterreise , Der Leiermann 281
The Character's Persona: Schumann's "Die alten, bosen Lieder" 282
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Sch umann : Dichterliebe, "Die a/ten,
bosen Lieder" 282
The Listener's Persona: Dallapiccola's Canti di prigionia 284
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Dallapiccola: Canti di prigionia 284
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Dallapiccola: Canti di prigionia 286
Across the Arts Pa inter's Against Fascism 287
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Dallapiccola: Canti di prigionia 287
Focus On Lu igi Dallapicco la (1904- 1975) 288
The Performer's Persona: Bob Dylan and His Covers 289
If You Liked This Music . . . 290
Summary 291
Review Questions 291
Review Concepts 291
Listening Exercises 292

CHAPTER 11 • Music and Drama 293


Take Note 293
Chapter Objectives 294
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 294
How Music Contributes to Drama 294
Cinematic Opera 294
Across the Arts What's Up with Cartoon Music? 295
A Literary Link 296
Music Drama 297
Focus On Giu seppe Verd i (1813- 1901) 297
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Verdi, Ote!/o, beginning of Act I 298
In History Verdi's Ote!lo 301
Number Opera 302
Recitative: A Useful Convention 302
Focus On Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756- 1791) 303
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, recitative
from Act I ("Cosa sta i misu ra ndo") 304
Arias: The Music that Provides the Magic 305
Meet Cherubino 305
••
Contents XVII

LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, "Non so piu


cosa son, cosa faccio" 305
Integrating Music Drama and Number Opera 307
If You Liked This Music . . . 308
The Role of the Libretto 30 8
Stories of the Operas 308
W hy the Libretto is Important 309
The Libretto and the Music Drama: Transforming Othello 3 09
W hat Shakespeare Tells Us about Iago 310
W hat Boito Tells Us about Iago 310
W hat Verdi Tells Us about Iago 311
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Verdi, Otello, Iago's mono logue from Act II 311
The Credo Monologue 314
The Trio from Act II I 314
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Verdi, Otello, Trio from Act Ill 317
The Libretto and the Number Opera: Transforming Le nozze
di Figaro 322
W hat Beaumarchais Tells Us about Cherubino 322
W hat Da Ponte Tells Us about the Countess 322
W hat Mozart Tells Us about the Countess 322
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, beginning
of Act II 323
The Opening Duet 323
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492,
opening duet 324
The Sextet in Act III 325
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Mozart : Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492,
Sextet from Act 111 326
If You Liked This Music . . . 329
Some Final Thoughts 330
Summary 330
Review Questions 331
Review Concepts 331
Listening Exercises 331

CHAPTER 12 • Instrumental Music and Meaning 332


Take Note 332
Chapter Objectives 333
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter 333
Program Music: Telling a Story 333
Types of Musical Meaning 334
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Smetana: Sarka, from Ma vlast (My Homeland) 335
Focus On The Orchestra 336
Symbolic Meaning 337
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Josquin : Missa "L'homme arme" super voces
musicales, Agnus Dei 111 337
Meaning Through Musical Gesture 338
•••
XVIII Contents

Personal and Accrued Meaning 338


Across the Arts Movies and Famous Music 339
Musical Form and Meaning 339
Ternary Form: Mozart, Chopin, and Dvorak 339
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Chopin : Nocturne in A-flat major,
op. 32, no. 2 340
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Dvorak: Slavonic Dance in E m inor,
op. 72, no. 10 341
Variation Form: A Character's Many Moods 341
Sonata Form: The Musical Essay 342
Beethoven's Symphony no. 5 343
In History Beethoven's Symphony no. 5 343
Beethoven's Fifth: A Guided Tour 345
The First Movement 345
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Beethoven: Symphony no. 5 in C minor,
op. 67 347
The Second Movement 348
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Beethoven: Symphony no. 5 in C minor,
op. 67 349
The Third Movement 350
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Beethoven: Symphony no. 5 in C minor,
op. 67 352
The Fourth Movement: Finale 353
Legacy 353
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Beethoven: Symphony no. 5 in C minor,
op. 67 354
Narrative Contour and Gender 355
LEARNING TO LISTEN GUIDE: Vandervelde: Genesis II for piano trio 356
If You Liked This Music . . . 357
Summary 358
Review Questions 358
Review Concepts 358
Listening Exercises 359

Bonus Online CHAPTER 13 • Actively Listening


to Additional Works Wl
Take Note Wl
Chapter Objectives W2
Chronology of Music Discussed in this Chapter W2
Perotinus, Sederunt principes W2
The Setting W3
The Genre W4
How the Music Was Written W5
Performance Tradition W5
Perotinus and the Middle Ages W6
Sederunt principes in Today's World W6
If You Liked This Music . . . W7
Questions for Further Study W7

Contents XIX

Handel, Messiah W7
The Setting W8
The Genre W8
How the Music Was Written W8
Performance Tradition W8
Handel and the Baroque W9
Sacred and Secular Meanings W9
Messiah in Today's World WlO
If You Liked This Music . . . WlO
Questions for Further Study WlO
Brahms, Violin Concerto in D major, op. 77 W11
The Setting Wl2
The Genre Wl3
How the Music Was Written Wl3
Performance Tradition Wl3
Brahms and the Romantic Period Wl3
Classical and Popular Styles Wl4
If You Liked This Music. . . Wl4
Questions for Further Study Wl4
Aaron Copland, Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo W15
The Setting WIS
The Genre Wl6
How the Music Was Written Wl6
Performance Tradition Wl 7
Copland and the 20th Century Wl8
Changing Meanings Wl8
If You Liked This Music . . . Wl9
Questions for Further Study Wl9

Appendix I: Take Note Guide to Streaming Music Tracks


and Interactive Listening Guides (ILGs) 361
Appendix II: Take Note Video Guide to Musical Instruments 367
Glossary 369
Source Notes 377
Credits 378
Index 379
GUIDE TO THE CORE REPERTORY
OF MUSICAL WORKS

The followin g table summarizes the appearan ces of the recurrin g repertory ofcore m usical
works at the heart o fTalreNot£. This d iverse collection ofworks is drawn upon th roughout
the book to illustrate key his torical and them atic elemen ts of music.0

Key discussions and Listening Guides


Core Repertory Work Date are located in the following chapters:
Gtegotian Chant: Dies lrae 1250 (circa) 8, 9
Machaut.: Lasse.' Comment oublieray.t 1350 (circa) 2, 7, 9 .10
Machaul: Fq_y porter. Welai 1350 (circa) 5, 7, 9
Josquin: Missa L'homme arme super vt1Ces musicales 1480' s (circa) 2, 6, 9 , 12
Palestrina: Sicut cervus 1584 2, 10
Monteverdi: lo son pur vezzosetta 16 19 2, 9
Bach: Mass in B minor, Gloria 1723-1733 2, 6. 9
Bach: Concerto in O Minot for Harpsichord and Orchestra, SYN 1052 1732-1733 1, 6,7, 8
Mozart: Serenade in B·flat MaJOI. K. 361 •Gran Partita•. K. 361 1781 3, 5,6, 7,8, 12
Mor.art: Le Nozze di Figaro. K. 492 1786 3, 6, 11
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550 1788 1. 5, 6, 8, 9, 12
Haydn: String Quartet in S.fta1 Major. Op. 64. no. 3 1790 3, 5, 6, 7.12
BeethOJen: Symphony No. 5 1804-1808 3,8, 12
Schubert: Winterreise 1828 5, 10
Chopin. Ballade No. 1 in G Mil"IOf. Op. 23 1835-1836 3, 7, 12
Chopin: Noell.woe in A-flat Majer, Op. 32, No. 2 1836-1837 8, 9, 12
Be1fioz. Romeo et Juliette 1839 3, 6. 8
Schumann: Dichterliebe 1840 10
Wagner: Tnstan und Isolde 1859 9
Smetana: ~arka. from Ma Vias.I (My Homeland) 1872 3, 6, 12
Ow>iiik: Sla\'onic Dance in E Minor. Op. n. No. 10 1886 1, 7, 8, 12
Verdi: Otelia 1887 6, 11
Scusa: The Stars and Stripes Foreve.r 1897 6, 7
tves: Violin Sonata no. 4 c·Chi1dren·s Day at the <:amp Meetif"@'") 1906-19 16 5, 7, 8 .12
Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola. and Harp 1915 4 , 6, 7,8.9
Stravinsky, Symphorry of Psalms 1930 4, 6,9. 12
Oalapiccola: Canti di Pri1ionia 1938-1941 6, 8. 10
William "Counr Basie: Lester Leaps In 1939 4, 6, 8. 7. 9
Gould: American Salute 1947 6
Crumb: Staci<. Angels 1970 1, 6, 8 , 9
Vandervelde: Genesis II 1983 6, 7, 8. 9, 12
Gender Wayang. SUkawali Traditional 6
Jumping Dance Drums Traditional 7
Khan: Raga Bhankar Traditional 5, 8

xxi
Letter from the Author

Dear Reader:

W hat does it mean to truly listen to music? Most people today experience ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Robin Wa1lace is Professor of
music many times a d ay: At work, in the store, on the In ternet, at the movies, Musicology at Baylor University.
where he has taught since 2003.
at th e doctor's office, we are b ombarded by more kinds of music in a week He received his Bachelor of Arts
degree from Oberlin College, where
than most of our ancestors had the opport unity to experience in a lifetime. he studied piano w1th Thomas
Simons and Leon Bates. He holds a
M usic a lso serves man y p urposes. It tells us to re lax, to buy, to stay awake, master of philosophy and a doctor
of philosophy in music history from
to sit on t he edge of o ur seat. It may evoke a wide range of reactions, causing Yale University. He has also held
teachmg appointments at Yale.
us to sing along, to tap our fee t, or to turn away in indiffe rence. It is hard to get California State University at Long
Beach. Scripps Co1lege. Concordia
away fro m music a nd its ro le in o ur lives. University, and Converse College.
He is an accomplished pianist.
Yet it is rare fo r us to g ive music ou r full attention . This book invites you harpsichordist, and recorder player,
as well as a composer.
to become an active listener to broaden your enjoyment of music o f all kinds. He has wn tten numerous books
and essays on mus1c. including
Central to the successful formula of th is book is the use of a recurrin g or Beethoven's Cruks and The Cnuro.l
Reception of Beethoven's Compositions
core repertory o f m usical examples th at are revisited th roughout the chapters. by >us German Contempotanes {series
co-editor and translator). and
To help you understand these works, the boo k focuses on a rucles and reviews m Music
o:nd Letters, The Journal of
fu ndamental musical e lemen ts t hat make up all Musico)oqy. The Journal of
Musicological Research,
music: fo rm, tim bre, rhyth m, meter, melody, Music Library Association
Notes, Berthoven Forum,
harmony, and texture. Each of these e lements is Nineteenth-Century
MUSIC Review, and
used to explore these core works, in vit ing you T>te Journal of Music
History Pedagogy. Take
to become familiar with great music of many Note embodies his
dedication to teaching
genres a nd t he components that make it tick. the course in music
appreciauon and
H ere's w ishing you gre.ater e njoym ent applies techniques
he has developed for
of t he music a lready in your playlist as well communicating a love
of music to his students.
as a lifetime of musical revelations to come.

Sincere ly,
Rob in Wallace

xxiii
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
In the effort to strengthen his Ministry Perceval persuaded Lord
Sidmouth to enter the Cabinet, but only on condition that the orders
should be left an open question. Sidmouth plainly said that he would
rather give up the orders than face an American war.[221] He also
asked that the license system should be renounced. Perceval replied
that this would be a greater sacrifice than if the licenses had never
been granted.[222] Lord Sidmouth was not a great man,—Canning
despised his abilities, and the Prince of Wales called him a
blockhead;[223] but he was, except Lord Castlereagh, the only ally to
be found, and Perceval accepted him on his own terms. The new
Cabinet at once took the American question in hand, and
Castlereagh then wrote his instructions of April 10 to Foster, making
use of Bassano’s report to justify England’s persistence in the
orders; but besides this despatch Castlereagh wrote another of the
same date, in which Sidmouth’s idea took shape. If the United States
would restore intercourse with Great Britain, the British government
would issue no more licenses and would resort to rigorous
blockades.[224] This great concession showed how rapidly Perceval
lost ground; but this was not yet all. April 21 the Prince Regent
issued his formal declaration that whenever the French government
should publish an authentic Act expressly and unconditionally
repealing the Berlin and Milan Decrees, the Orders in Council,
including that of Jan. 7, 1807, should be wholly and absolutely
revoked.
Had the United States at that moment been so fortunate as to
enjoy the services of Pinkney in London, or of any man whose
position and abilities raised him above the confusion of party politics,
he might have convinced them that war was unnecessary. The mere
threat was sufficient. Sidmouth’s entrance into the Cabinet showed
the change of current, and once Perceval began to give way, he
could not stop. Unfortunately the United States had no longer a
minister in England. In July, 1811, the President ordered Jonathan
Russell to London to act as chargé until a minister should be
appointed, which he added would be done as soon as Congress
met;[225] but he changed his mind and appointed no minister, while
Jonathan Russell, seeing that Perceval commanded a majority and
was determined to maintain his system, reported the situation as
hopeless.[226]
Brougham, without taking the precaution of giving Russell the
daily information he so much needed, devoted all his energies to
pressing the popular movement against the Orders in Council.
Petition after petition was hurried to Parliament, and almost every
petition caused a new debate. George Rose, who possessed an
unhappy bluntness, in conversation with a Birmingham committee
said that the two countries were like two men with their heads in
buckets of water, whose struggle was which of the two could hold out
longest before suffocation. The phrase was seized as a catchword,
and helped agitation. April 28 Lord Stanley, in the House, renewed
the motion for a committee on the petitions against the orders.
Perceval had been asked whether he would consent to the
committee, and had refused; but on consulting his followers he found
such symptoms of disaffection as obliged him to yield rather than
face a defeat. George Rose then announced, greatly against his will,
that as a matter of respect to the petitioners he would no longer
oppose their request; Castlereagh and Perceval, cautioning the
House that nothing need be expected from the investigation,
followed Rose; while Stephen, after denouncing as a foul libel the
charge that the orders had been invented to extend the commerce of
Great Britain, also yielded to the committee “as a negative good, and
to prevent misconstruction.”
Stimulated by the threatening news from America, Brougham
pressed with his utmost energy the victory he had won. The
committee immediately began its examination of witnesses, who
appeared from every quarter to prove that the Orders in Council and
the subsequent non-importation had ruined large branches of British
trade, and had lopped away a market that consumed British products
to the value of more than ten million pounds sterling a year. Perceval
and Stephen did their best to stem the tide, but were slowly
overborne, and seemed soon to struggle only for delay.
Then followed a melodramatic change. May 11, as the prime
minister entered the House to attend the investigation, persons
about the door heard the report of a pistol, and saw Spencer
Perceval fall forward shot through the heart. By the hand of a lunatic
moved only by imaginary personal motives, this minister, who
seemed in no way a tragical figure, became the victim of a tragedy
without example in modern English history; but although England
had never been in a situation more desperate, the true importance of
Spencer Perceval was far from great, and when he vanished in the
flash of a pistol from the stage where he seemed to fill the most
considerable part, he stood already on the verge of overthrow. His
death relieved England of a burden. Brougham would not allow his
inquiry to be suspended, and the premier’s assassination rather
concealed than revealed the defeat his system must have suffered.
During the negotiations which followed, in the midst of difficulties
in forming a new Ministry, Castlereagh received from Jonathan
Russell Napoleon’s clandestine Decree of Repeal. Brougham asked,
May 22, what construction was to be put by ministers on this paper.
Castlereagh replied that the decree was a trick disgraceful to any
civilized government, and contained nothing to satisfy the conditions
required by England. Apart from the subordinate detail that his view
of the decree was correct, his remarks meant nothing. The alarm
caused by news that Congress had imposed an embargo as the last
step before war, the annoyance created by John Henry’s revelations
and Castlereagh’s lame defence, the weight of evidence pressing on
Parliament against the Orders in Council, the absence of a strong or
permanent Ministry,—these influences, gaining from day to day,
forced the conviction that a change of system must take place. June
8 Lord Liverpool announced that he had formed an Administration,
and would deal in due course with the Orders in Council. June 16
Brougham made his motion for a repeal of the orders. When he
began his speech he did not know what part the new Ministry would
take, but while he unfolded his long and luminous argument he
noticed that James Stephen failed to appear in the House. This
absence could mean only that Stephen had been deserted by
ministers; and doubt ceased when Brougham and Baring ended, for
then Lord Castlereagh—after Perceval’s death the leader of the
House—rose and awkwardly announced that the Government,
though till within three or four days unable to deliberate on the
subject, had decided to suspend immediately the Orders in Council.
Thus ended the long struggle waged for five years by the United
States against the most illiberal Government known in England
within modern times. Never since the Definitive Treaty of Peace had
America won so complete a triumph, for the surrender lacked on
England’s part no element of defeat. Canning never ceased taunting
the new Ministry with their want of courage in yielding without a
struggle. The press submitted with bad grace to the necessity of
holding its tongue. Every one knew that the danger, already almost a
certainty, of an American war chiefly caused the sudden and silent
surrender, and that the Ministry like the people shrank from facing
the consequences of their own folly. Every one cried that England
should not suffer herself to be provoked by the irritating conduct of
America; and at a moment when every word and act of the American
government announced war in the rudest terms, not a voice was
heard in England for accepting the challenge, nor was a musket
made ready for defence. The new Ministry thought the war likely to
drive them from office, for they were even weaker than when
Spencer Perceval led them. The “Times” of June 17 declared that
whatever might be the necessity of defending British rights by an
American war, yet it would be the most unpopular war ever known,
because every one would say that with happier talents it might have
been avoided. “Indeed,” it added, “every one is so declaring at the
present moment; so that we who have ever been the most strenuous
advocates of the British cause in this dispute are really overwhelmed
by the general clamor.” Bitter as the mortification was, the headlong
abandonment of the Orders in Council called out reproaches only
against the ministers who originally adopted them. “We are most
surprised,” said the “Times” of June 18, “that such acts could ever
have received the sanction of the Ministry when so little was urged in
their defence.”
Such concessions were commonly the result rather than the
prelude of war; they were not unlike those by which Talleyrand
succeeded, in 1799, in restoring friendly relations between France
and America. Three months earlier they would have answered their
purpose; but the English were a slow and stubborn race. Perhaps
that they should have repealed the orders at all was more surprising
than that they should have waited five years; but although they acted
more quickly and decidedly than was their custom, Spencer Perceval
lived three months too long. The Orders in Council were abandoned
at Westminster June 17; within twenty-four hours at Washington war
was declared; and forty-eight hours later Napoleon, about to enter
Russia, issued the first bulletin of his Grand Army.
CHAPTER XIV.
For civil affairs Americans were more or less trained; but they
had ignored war, and had shown no capacity in their treatment of
military matters. Their little army was not well organized or equipped;
its civil administration was more imperfect than its military, and its
military condition could hardly have been worse. The ten old
regiments, with half-filled ranks, were scattered over an enormous
country on garrison service, from which they could not be safely
withdrawn; they had no experience, and no organization for a
campaign, while thirteen new regiments not yet raised were
expected to conquer Canada.
If the army in rank and file was insufficient, its commanding
officers supplied none of its wants. The senior major-general
appointed by President Madison in February, 1812, was Henry
Dearborn, who had retired in 1809 from President Jefferson’s
Cabinet into the Custom-House of Boston. Born in 1751, Dearborn at
the time of his nomination as major-general was in his sixty-second
year, and had never held a higher grade in the army than that of
deputy quartermaster-general in 1781, and colonel of a New
Hampshire regiment after active service in the Revolutionary War
had ended.
The other major-general appointed at the same time was Thomas
Pinckney, of South Carolina, who received command of the Southern
Department. Pinckney was a year older than Dearborn; his military
service was chiefly confined to the guerilla campaigns of Marion and
Sumter, and to staff duty as aide to General Gates in the Southern
campaign of 1780; he had been minister in England and Envoy
Extraordinary to Spain, where he negotiated the excellent treaty
known by his name; he had been also a Federalist member of
Congress in the stormy sessions from 1797 to 1801,—but none of
these services, distinguished as they were, seemed to explain his
appointment as major-general. Macon, whose opinions commonly
reflected those of the Southern people, was astonished at the
choice.
“The nomination of Thomas Pinckney for major-general,” he wrote,
[227] “is cause of grief to all men who wish proper men appointed; not
that he is a Federal or that he is not a gentleman, but because he is
thought not to possess the talents necessary to his station. I imagine
his nomination must have been produced through the means of P.
Hamilton, who is about as fit for his place as the Indian Prophet would
be for Emperor of Europe. I never was more at a loss to account for
any proceeding than the nomination of Pinckney to be major-general.”
Even the private report that Pinckney had become a Republican
did not reconcile Macon, whose belief that the “fighting secretaries”
would not do for real war became stronger than ever, although he
admitted that some of the military appointments were supposed to
be tolerably good.
Of the brigadier-generals the senior was James Wilkinson, born
in 1757, and fifty-five years old in 1812. Wilkinson had recently been
tried by court-martial on a variety of charges, beginning with that of
having been a pensioner of Spain and engaged in treasonable
conspiracy; then of being an accomplice of Aaron Burr; and finally,
insubordination, neglect of duty, wastefulness, and corruption. The
court acquitted him, and February 14 President Madison approved
the decision, but added an irritating reprimand. Yet in spite of
acquittal Wilkinson stood in the worst possible odor, and returned
what he considered his wrongs by bitter and contemptuous hatred
for the President and the Secretary of War.
The next brigadier was Wade Hampton, of South Carolina, who
entered the service in 1808, and was commissioned as brigadier in
1809. Born in 1754, he was fifty-seven years old, and though
understood to be a good officer, he had as yet enjoyed no
opportunity of distinguishing himself. Next in order came Joseph
Bloomfield of New Jersey, nominated as brigadier-general of the
regular army March 27, 1812; on the same day James Winchester,
of Tennessee, was named fourth brigadier; and April 8 William Hull,
of Massachusetts, was appointed fifth in rank. Bloomfield, a major in
the Revolutionary War, had been for the last ten years Governor of
New Jersey. Winchester, another old Revolutionary officer, originally
from Maryland, though mild, generous, and rich, was not the best
choice that might have been made from Tennessee. William Hull,
civil Governor of Michigan since 1805, was a third of the same class.
All were sixty years of age or thereabout, and none belonged to the
regular service, or had ever commanded a regiment in face of an
enemy.
Of the inferior appointments, almost as numerous as the
enlistments, little could be said. Among the officers of the regiment of
Light Artillery raised in 1808, after the “Chesapeake” alarm, was a
young captain named Winfield Scott, born near Petersburg, Virginia,
in 1786, and in the prime of his energies when at the age of twenty-
six he saw the chance of distinction before him. In after life Scott
described the condition of the service as he found it in 1808.
“The army of that day,” he said,[228] “including its general staff, the
three old and the nine new regiments, presented no pleasing aspect.
The old officers had very generally sunk into either sloth, ignorance, or
habits of intemperate drinking.... Many of the appointments were
positively bad, and a majority of the remainder indifferent. Party spirit
of that day knew no bounds, and of course was blind to policy.
Federalists were almost entirely excluded from selection, though great
numbers were eager for the field, and in New England and some other
States there were but very few educated Republicans; hence the
selections from those communities consisted mostly of coarse and
ignorant men. In the other States, where there was no lack of
educated men in the dominant party, the appointments consisted
generally of swaggerers, dependants, decayed gentlemen, and
others, ‘fit for nothing else,’ which always turned out utterly unfit for
any military purpose whatever.”
This account of the army of 1808 applied equally, said Scott, to
the appointments of 1812. Perhaps the country would have fared as
well without a regular army, by depending wholly on volunteers, and
allowing the States to choose general officers. In such a case
Andrew Jackson would have taken the place of James Winchester,
and William Hull would never have received an appointment from
Massachusetts.
No one in the government gave much thought to the military
dangers created by the war, yet these dangers seemed evident
enough to warrant keen anxiety. The sea-shore was nowhere
capable of defence; the Lakes were unguarded; the Indians of the
Northwestern Territory were already in arms, and known to be
waiting only a word from the Canadian governor-general; while the
whole country beyond the Wabash and Maumee rivers stood nearly
defenceless. At Detroit one hundred and twenty soldiers garrisoned
the old British fort; eighty-five men on the Maumee held Fort Wayne;
some fifty men guarded the new stockade called Fort Harrison, lately
built on the Wabash; and fifty-three men, beyond possibility of
rescue, were stationed at Fort Dearborn, or Chicago; finally, eighty-
eight men occupied the Island of Michillimackinaw in the straits
between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. These were all the military
defences of a vast territory, which once lost would need another war
to regain; and these petty garrisons, with the settlers about them,
were certain, in the event of an ordinary mischance, to be scalped as
well as captured. The situation was little better in the South and
Southwest, where the Indians needed only the support of a British
army at New Orleans or Mobile to expel every American garrison
from the territory.
No serious preparations for war had yet been made when the war
began. In January, Congress voted ten new regiments of infantry,
two of artillery, and one of light dragoons; the recruiting began in
March, and in June the Secretary of War reported to Congress that
although no returns had been received from any of the recruiting
offices, yet considering the circumstances “the success which has
attended this service will be found to have equalled any reasonable
expectations.”[229] Eustis was in no way responsible for the failure of
the service, and had no need to volunteer an opinion as to the
reasonable expectations that Congress might entertain. Every one
knew that the enlistments fell far below expectation; but not the
enlistments alone showed torpor. In February, Congress authorized
the President to accept fifty thousand volunteers for one year’s
service. In June, the number of volunteers who had offered
themselves was even smaller than that of regular recruits. In April,
Congress authorized the President to call out one hundred thousand
State militia. In June, no one knew whether all the States would
regard the call, and still less whether the militia would serve beyond
the frontier. One week after declaring war, Congress fixed the war
establishment at twenty-five regiments of infantry, four of artillery, two
of dragoons, and one of riflemen,—making, with the engineers and
artificers, an army of thirty-six thousand seven hundred men; yet the
actual force under arms did not exceed ten thousand, of whom four
thousand were new recruits. Toward no part of the service did the
people show a sympathetic spirit before the war was declared; and
even where the war was most popular, as in Kentucky and
Tennessee, men showed themselves determined to fight in their own
way or not at all.
However inexperienced the Government might be, it could not
overlook the necessity of providing for one vital point. Detroit claimed
early attention, and received it. The dangers surrounding Detroit
were evident to any one who searched the map for that remote
settlement, within gunshot of British territory and surrounded by
hostile Indian tribes. The Governor of Michigan, William Hull, a
native of Connecticut, had done good service in the Revolutionary
War, but had reached the age of sixty years without a wish to resume
his military career. He preferred to remain in his civil post, leaving to
some officer of the army the charge of military operations; but he
came to Washington in February, 1812, and urged the Government
to take timely measures for holding the Indians in check. He advised
the President and Cabinet to increase the naval force on Lake Erie,
although he already had at Detroit an armed brig ready to launch,
which he thought sufficient to control the upper lakes. The subject
was discussed; but the delay necessary to create a fleet must have
risked, if it did not insure, the loss of the whole Northwestern
Territory, and the President necessarily decided to march first a force
to Detroit strong enough to secure the frontier, and, if possible, to
occupy the whole or part of the neighboring and friendly British
territory in Upper Canada. This decision Hull seems to have
suggested, for he wrote,[230] March 6, to Secretary Eustis,—
“A part of your army now recruiting may be as well supported and
disciplined at Detroit as at any other place. A force adequate to the
defence of that vulnerable point would prevent a war with the
savages, and probably induce the enemy to abandon the province of
Upper Canada without opposition. The naval force on the Lakes would
in that event fall into our possession, and we should obtain the
command of the waters without the expense of building such a force.”
This hazardous plan required energy in the American armies,
timely co-operation from Niagara if not from Lake Champlain, and,
most of all, assumed both incompetence and treason in the enemy.
Assuming that Hull would capture the British vessels on the Lakes,
the President made no further provision for a fleet; but, apparently to
provide for simultaneous measures against Lower Canada, the
Secretary of War sent to Boston for General Dearborn, who was to
command operations on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.
Dearborn hastened to Washington in February, where he remained
until the last of April. He submitted to the Secretary of War what was
called a plan of campaign,[231] recommending that a main army
should advance by way of Lake Champlain upon Montreal, while
three corps, composed chiefly of militia, should enter Canada from
Detroit, Niagara, and Sackett’s Harbor. Neither Dearborn, Hull,
Eustis, nor Madison settled the details of the plan or fixed the time of
the combined movement. They could not readily decide details
before Congress acted, and before the ranks of the army were filled.
While these matters were under discussion in March, the
President, unable to find an army officer fitted to command the force
ordered to Detroit, pressed Governor Hull to reconsider his refusal;
and Hull, yielding to the President’s wish, was appointed, April 8,
1812, brigadier-general of the United States army, and soon
afterward set out for Ohio. No further understanding had then been
reached between him and Dearborn, or Secretary Eustis, in regard
to the military movements of the coming campaign.
The force destined for Detroit consisted of three regiments of
Ohio militia under Colonels McArthur, Findlay, and Cass, a troop of
Ohio dragoons, and the Fourth Regiment of United States Infantry
which fought at Tippecanoe,—in all about sixteen hundred effective
men, besides a few volunteers. April 1 the militia were ordered to
rendezvous at Dayton, and there, May 25, Hull took command. June
1 they marched, and June 10 were joined at Urbana by the Fourth
Regiment. Detroit was nearly two hundred miles away, and the army
as it advanced was obliged to cut a road through the forest, to bridge
streams and construct causeways; but for such work the militia were
well fitted, and they made good progress. The energy with which the
march was conducted excited the surprise of the British authorities in
Canada,[232] and contrasted well with other military movements of
the year; but vigorous as it was it still lagged behind events. Hull had
moved only some seventy-five miles, when, June 26,[233] he
received from Secretary Eustis a despatch, forwarded by special
messenger from the Department, to warn him that war was close at
hand. “Circumstances have recently occurred,” wrote Secretary
Eustis, “which render it necessary you should pursue your march to
Detroit with all possible expedition. The highest confidence is
reposed in your discretion, zeal, and perseverance.”
THE
SEAT OF WAR ABOUT LAKE ERIE.
Engraved from a Map Published
by John Conrad.
Struthers & Co., Engr’s, N. Y.

The despatch, dated June 18, was sent by the secretary on the
morning of that day in anticipation of the vote taken in Congress a
few hours later.[234] Hull had every reason to understand its
meaning, for he expected to lead his army against the enemy. “In the
event of hostilities,” he had written June 24,[235] “I feel a confidence
that the force under my command will be superior to any which can
be opposed to it. It now exceeds two thousand rank and file.” On
receiving the secretary’s pressing orders Hull left his heavy camp-
equipage behind, and hurried his troops to the Miami, or Maumee,
River thirty-five miles away. There he arrived June 30, and there, to
save transportation, loading a schooner with his personal baggage,
his hospital stores, entrenching tools, and even a trunk containing
his instructions and the muster-rolls of his army, he despatched it,
July 1, up the Lake toward Detroit. He took for granted that he
should receive from his own government the first notice of war; yet
he knew that the steamboat from New York to Albany and the road
from Albany to Buffalo, which carried news to the British forces at
Malden, was also the regular mode of conveyance for Detroit; and
he had every reason to suspect that as his distance in time from
Washington was greater, he might learn of war first from actual
hostilities. Hull considered “there was no hazard” in sending his most
valuable papers past Malden;[236] but within four-and-twenty hours
he received a despatch from Secretary Eustis announcing the
declaration of war, and the same day his schooner was seized by the
British in passing Malden to Detroit.
This first disaster told the story of the campaign. The declaration
made at Washington June 18 was published by General Bloomfield
at New York June 20, and reached Montreal by express June 24; the
same day it reached the British Fort George on the Niagara River
and was sent forward to Malden, where it arrived June 30. The
despatch to Hull reached Buffalo two days later than the British
express, for it went by ordinary mail; from Cleveland it was
forwarded by express, June 28, by way of Sandusky, to Hull, whom it
reached at last, July 2, at Frenchtown on the river Raisin, forty miles
below Detroit.
The slowness of transportation was made conspicuous by
another incident. John Jacob Astor, being engaged in extensive
trade with the Northwestern Indians, for political reasons had been
encouraged by government. Anxious to save the large amount of
property exposed to capture, he not only obtained the earliest
intelligence of war, and warned his agents by expresses, but he also
asked and received from the Treasury orders[237] addressed to the
Collectors on the Lakes, directing them to accept and hold such
goods as might be brought from Astor’s trading-posts. The business
of the Treasury as well as that of Astor was better conducted than
that of the War Department. Gallatin’s letters reached Detroit before
Eustis’s despatch reached Hull; and this incident gave rise to a
charge of misconduct and even of treason against Gallatin himself.
[238]

Hull reached Detroit July 5. At that time the town contained about
eight hundred inhabitants within gunshot of the British shore. The fort
was a square enclosure of about two acres, surrounded by an
embankment, a dry ditch, and a double row of pickets. Although
capable of standing a siege, it did not command the river; its
supplies were insufficient for many weeks; it was two hundred miles
distant from support, and its only road of communication ran for sixty
miles along the edge of Lake Erie, where a British fleet on one side
and a horde of savages on the other could always make it
impassable. The widely scattered people of the territory, numbering
four or five thousand, promised to become a serious burden in case
of siege or investment. Hull knew in advance that in a military sense
Detroit was a trap.
July 9, four days after his arrival, Hull received orders from
Washington authorizing him to invade Canada:—
“Should the force under your command be equal to the enterprise,
consistent with the safety of your own post, you will take possession
of Malden, and extend your conquests as circumstances may justify.”

He replied immediately the same day:[239]—


“I am preparing boats, and shall pass the river in a few days. The
British have established a post directly opposite this place. I have
confidence in dislodging them, and of being in possession of the
opposite bank.... The British command the water and the savages. I
do not think the force here equal to the reduction of Amherstburg
(Malden); you therefore must not be too sanguine.”
Three days later, July 12, his army crossed the river. Not a gun
was fired. The British militia force retired behind the Canard River,
twelve miles below, while Hull and his army occupied Sandwich, and
were well received by the inhabitants.
Hull had many reasons for wishing to avoid a battle. From the
first he looked on the conquest of Canada as a result of his mere
appearance. He began by issuing a proclamation[240] intended to
win a peaceful conquest.
“You will be emancipated,” said the proclamation to the Canadians,
“from tyranny and oppression, and restored to the dignified station of
freemen.... I have a force which will break down all opposition, and
that force is but the vanguard of a much greater.... The United States
offer you peace, liberty, and security,—your choice lies between these
and war, slavery, or destruction. Choose then; but choose wisely.”...
This proclamation, dated July 12, was spread throughout the
province with no small effect, although it contained an apparently
unauthorized threat, that “no white man found fighting by the side of
an Indian will be taken prisoner; instant death will be his lot.” The
people of the western province were strongly American, and soon to
the number of three hundred and sixty-seven, including deserters
from the Malden garrison, sought protection in the American lines.
[241] July 19 Hull described the situation in very hopeful terms:[242]—

“The army is encamped directly opposite to Detroit. The camp is


entrenched. I am mounting the 24-pounders and making every
preparation for the siege of Malden. The British force, which in
numbers was superior to the American, including militia and Indians,
is daily diminishing. Fifty or sixty (of the militia) have deserted daily
since the American standard was displayed, and taken protection.
They are now reduced to less than one hundred. In a day or two I
expect the whole will desert. The Indian force is diminishing in the
same proportion. I have now a large council of ten or twelve nations
sitting at Brownstown, and I have no doubt but the result will be that
they will remain neutral. The brig ‘Adams’ was launched on the 4th of
July. I have removed her to Detroit under cover of the cannon, and
shall have her finished and armed as soon as possible. We shall then
have the command of the upper lakes.”
To these statements Hull added a warning, which carried at least
equal weight:—
“If you have not a force at Niagara, the whole force of the province
will be directed against this army.... It is all important that Niagara
should be invested. All our success will depend upon it.”
While Hull reached this position, July 19, he had a right to
presume that the Secretary of War and Major-General Dearborn
were straining every nerve to support him; but in order to understand
Hull’s situation, readers must know what Dearborn and Eustis were
doing. Dearborn’s movements, compared day by day with those of
Hull, show that after both officers left Washington in April to take
command of their forces, Hull reached Cincinnati May 10, while
Dearborn reached Albany May 3, and wrote, May 8, to Eustis that he
had fixed on a site to be purchased for a military station. “I shall
remain here until the erection of buildings is commenced.... The
recruiting seems going on very well where it has been commenced.
There are nearly three hundred recruits in this State.”[243] If
Dearborn was satisfied with three hundred men as the result of six
weeks’ recruiting in New York State in immediate prospect of a
desperate war, he was likely to take his own duties easily; and in
fact, after establishing his headquarters at Albany for a campaign
against Montreal, he wrote, May 21, to the Secretary announcing his
departure for Boston: “As the quartermaster-general arrived here this
day I hope to be relieved from my duties in that line, and shall set out
for Pittsfield, Springfield, and Boston; and shall return here as soon
as possible after making the necessary arrangements at those
places.”
Dearborn reached Boston May 26, the day after Hull took
command at Dayton. May 29 he wrote again to Eustis: “I have been
here three days.... There are about three hundred recruits in and
near this town.... Shall return to Albany within a few days.” Dearborn
found business accumulate on his hands. The task of arranging the
coast defences absorbed his mind. He forgot the passage of time,
and while still struggling with questions of gunboats, garrisons, field-
pieces, and enlistments he was surprised, June 22, by receiving the
declaration of war. Actual war threw still more labor and anxiety upon
him. The State of Massachusetts behaved as ill as possible.
“Nothing but their fears,” he wrote,[244] “will prevent their going all
lengths.” More used to politics than to war, Dearborn for the time
took no thought of military movements.
Madison and Eustis seemed at first satisfied with this mode of
conducting the campaign. June 24 Eustis ordered Hull to invade
West Canada, and extend his conquests as far as practicable. Not
until June 26 did he write to Dearborn,[245]—
“Having made the necessary arrangements for the defence of the
sea-coast, it is the wish of the President that you should repair to
Albany and prepare the force to be collected at that place for actual
service. It is understood that being possessed of a full view of the
intentions of Government, and being also acquainted with the
disposition of the force under your command, you will take your own
time and give the necessary orders to the officers on the sea-coast. It
is altogether uncertain at what time General Hull may deem it
expedient to commence offensive operations. The preparations it is
presumed will be made to move in a direction for Niagara, Kingston,
and Montreal. On your arrival at Albany you will be able to form an
opinion of the time required to prepare the troops for action.”
Such orders as those of June 24 to Hull, and of June 26 to
Dearborn, passed beyond bounds of ordinary incapacity, and
approached the line of culpable neglect. Hull was to move when he
liked, and Dearborn was to take his own time at Boston before
beginning to organize his army. Yet the letter to Dearborn was less
surprising than Dearborn’s reply. The major-general in charge of
operations against Montreal, Kingston, and Niagara should have
been able to warn his civil superior of the risks incurred in allowing
Hull to make an unsupported movement from an isolated base such
as he knew Detroit to be; but no thought of Hull found place in
Dearborn’s mind. July 1 he wrote:[246]—
“There has been nothing yet done in New England that indicates
an actual state of war, but every means that can be devised by the
Tories is in operation to depress the spirits of the country. Hence the
necessity of every exertion on the part of the Government for carrying
into effect the necessary measures for defence or offence. We ought
to have gunboats in every harbor on the coast. Many places will have
no other protection, and all require their aid. I shall have doubts as to
the propriety of my leaving this place until I receive your particular
directions after you shall have received my letter.”
Dearborn complained with reason of the difficulties that
surrounded him. Had Congress acted promptly, a large body of
volunteers would have been already engaged, general officers would
have been appointed and ready for service, whereas no general
officer except himself was yet at any post north of New York city.
Every day he received from every quarter complaints of want of men,
clothing, and supplies; but his remaining at Boston to watch the
conduct of the State government was so little likely to overcome
these difficulties that at last it made an unfavorable impression on
the Secretary, who wrote, July 9, a more decided order from
Washington:[247]—
“The period has arrived when your services are required at Albany,
and I am instructed by the President to direct, that, having made
arrangements for placing the works on the sea-coast in the best state
of defence your means will permit, ... you will then order all the
recruits not otherwise disposed of to march immediately to Albany, or
some station on Lake Champlain, to be organized for the invasion of
Canada.”

With this official letter Eustis sent a private letter[248] of the same
date, explaining the reason for his order:—
“If ... we divide, distribute, and render inefficient the force
authorized by law, we play the game of the enemy within and without.
District among the field-officers the seaboard!... Go to Albany or the
Lake! The troops shall come to you as fast as the season will admit,
and the blow must be struck. Congress must not meet without a
victory to announce to them.”

Dearborn at Boston replied to these orders, July 13,[249] a few


hours after Hull’s army, six hundred miles away, crossed the Detroit
River into Canada and challenged the whole British force on the
lakes.
“For some time past I have been in a very unpleasant situation,
being at a loss to determine whether or not I ought to leave the sea-
coast. As soon as war was declared [June 18] I was desirous of
repairing to Albany, but was prevented by your letters of May 20 and
June 12, and since that time by the extraordinary management of
some of the governors in this quarter. On the receipt of your letter of
June 26 I concluded to set out in three or four days for Albany, but the
remarks in your letter of the 1st inst. prevented me. But having waited
for more explicit directions until I begin to fear that I may be censured
for not moving, and having taken such measures as circumstances
would permit for the defence of the sea-coast, I have concluded to
leave this place for Albany before the end of the present week unless I
receive orders to remain.”

You might also like