57.
"instrumental tone masses...harmonic fences": *
The score of Tristan und Isolde (1857-59; premiered Munich 1865) is a landmark in the development of Western music; Wagner uses a remarkable range of orchestral colour, harmony & polyphony, doing so with a freedom rarely found in his earlier operas. The very first chord in the piece, the Tristan chord, is of great significance in the move away from traditional tonal harmony as it resolves to another dissonant chord.
​
The opera is noted for its numerous expansions of harmonic practice; for instance, one significant innovation is the frequent use of two consecutive chords containing tritones (diminished fifth or augmented fourth), neither of which is a diminished seventh chord.
​
The opera is also notable for its use of harmonic suspension – a device used by a composer to create musical tension by exposing the listener to a series of prolonged unfinished cadences, thereby inspiring a desire and expectation on the part of the listener for musical resolution. Suspension is a common compositional device but Wagner was one of the first composers to employ harmonic suspension over the course of an entire work. The cadences first introduced in the prelude are not resolved until the finale of act 3, and, on a number of occasions throughout the opera, Wagner primes the audience for a musical climax with a series of chords building in tension – only to deliberately defer the anticipated resolution.
58.
plein air: *
Colour & light were critical for Impressionism. They employed the “broken colour” techniques in an effort to capture the actual sensation of the light. The length of brushstrokes can vary from painting to painting determined by the mood or feelings of the painter. He did not blend any of these brushstrokes. Each brushstroke is allowed to remain separate. The painter cleans their brush frequently to allow a clean colour with thick paint. The viewer is allowed to "visually mix" these brushstrokes to view a whole image.
​
To the right is an example of such plein air: Poppy Field first Impressionist exhibition 1874, Claude Monet, 1874. Monet diluted the contours and constructed a colourful rhythm with blobs of paint starting from a sprinkling of poppies; the disproportionately large patches in the foreground indicate the primacy he put on visual impression. A step towards abstraction had been taken.
​
​
​
​
​
59.
Manet:
​
Luncheon on the Grass:
A major early work, rejected by the Paris Salon (1863), its juxtaposition of fully dressed men and a nude woman was controversial, as was its abbreviated, sketch-like handling, an innovation that distinguished Manet. His composition reveals his study of the old masters (the disposition of the main figures is derived from Marcantonio Raimondi's engraving of the Judgement of Paris, 1515 based on a drawing by Raphael).
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Olympia:
challenged to give the Salon a nude painting to display, his uniquely frank depiction of a self-assured prostitute was accepted by the Paris Salon in 1865, where it created a scandal; controversial because the nude is wearing some small items of clothing such as an orchid in her hair, a bracelet, a ribbon around her neck all of which accentuated her nakedness, sexuality, and comfortable courtesan lifestyle (all recognized symbols of sexuality at the time). This modern Venus' body is thin, counter to prevailing standards-its lack of idealism rankled viewers. Its flatness, inspired by Japanese wood block art, serves to make the nude more human and less voluptuous. Manet again paraphrased a respected work by a Renaissance artist, as the pose was based on Titian's Venus of Urbino (1538).
60.
first Punic War, economic motives:*
Carthage dominated the political & economic affairs of the western Mediterranean Sea the North African coasts & islands. Its strength was its navy and its extensive Mediterranean sea trade; Its trade networks extending from Cádiz along the coasts of southern Iberia and North Africa, across the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and the western half of Sicily, to the eastern Mediterranean, including Tyre. This generated great wealth. Not surprisingly it was hostile to foreign ships (such as Roman and Greek vessels) in the western Mediterranean.
The rich, strategically influential, and well-fortified Greek colony of Syracuse was politically independent of Rome and Carthage. It was here in Sicily that hostilities began. Messina had been seized by a band of mercenaries but forces from Syracuse eventually defeated them. The mercenaries sought help; Carthage stepped in, set up a force at Messina to keep the peace. However, many Romans were unwilling to see Carthaginian power in Sicily expand further. Leaving them at Messina would give the Carthaginians a free hand to deal with Syracuse. And after the Syracuse had been defeated, the Carthaginian takeover of Sicily would essentially be complete.
The most immediate political result of the First Punic War was the downfall of Carthage's navy, which compromised her commercial power. Conditions signed in the peace treaty were intended to cripple her economy and prevent the city's recovery. The heavy indemnity demanded by the Romans strained the city's finances and forced Carthage to look to other areas of influence for the money to pay Rome.