Yesterday evening I attended a junior recital at the Hockett Family Recital Hall. The recital was for Junwen Jia, an alto saxophonist, and was in fulfillment of the degree of Bachelor of Music in Performance.
Out of all the recitals I've been to, I'd have to say this one is the most unique. While the last two were a more classical genre, all of the compositions in this from the 20th century. Right off the bat, I could see connections to the modernist style of sound and composition we studied in class. It was extremely difficult for me to sense phrasing and cadences. It was quite hard for me to tell the difference between the first two pieces, as the textures were the same, with the same instrumentation of sax and piano. The saxophone itself I feel is definitely an instrument that creates a modernist-style sound when played in a concert setting. While I'm used to hearing it in jazz, hearing it as a part of concert music is a completely different experience.
Another way I felt the music embodied a modernist style was through the structuring and flow of the compositions. In the second piece, it was almost as if he would play for quick 1-2 minute bursts, and then completely stop for about 20 seconds. The end result was very disjointed, and it was almost as if he was giving a small sample of the various styles.
The last piece of the program was my favorite. It featured a marimba, and once again the use of instrumentation was what made it so interesting to me. If I were to hear that a saxophone and marimba were going to be doing a duet, I would automatically assume it was some sort of smooth jazz in a hotel lobby or something. This piece proved that wrong for sure. The piece once again had that modernist feel to it. There were lots of fast scale runs (what seemed to be on the whole-tone scale) and dissonant chords from the marimba. The two instruments varied between playing in unison and a call-and-response type structure, further creating a feeling of 'organized chaos' if you will.
Overall, I really enjoyed this recital, even if it was not at all what I was expecting to begin with.
The Rite Of Spring is a ballet created by one of the great composers of the 20th century, Igor Stravinsky. As seen through The Rite Of Spring, Stravinsky's musical composition proved to be forward-thinking and ahead of its time, as he helped set the scene for future modernist 20th century music. This ballet was in fact so different than anything that had been produced before that a riot broke out during the it's premier in Paris. Rite Of Spring effectively demonstrates the popular aesthetics of modernism in the 20th-century through it's various musical elements.
The first musical element that Stravinsky fiddles with is instrumentation. Although we have seen alterations to the overall instrumentation in music before (such as the complex and unique combinations of strings, horns, etc. in the romantic period), Stravinsky takes it to the next level. Rather than just add layers of instruments (stratification), he puts the instruments in musical situations that are very different from what they were supposedly created for. An example of this is shown immediately at the beginning of the ballet. A single bassoon plays a distant melody at a very high register - extremely high for a bassoon. This creates an uneasy feeling and almost a sense of awkwardness. Furthermore, this uneasy tone parallels the ballet's story, as one could say it represents the cautious attitudes of animals and people coming out of their winter hideouts for the beginning of spring.
The second musical element expressed to a great degree is that of rhythm, or rather lack thereof. If anything, this in my opinion would probably be the biggest reason for the riots at the Paris opening, as Stravinsky chose to stray away from the common belief that music should have a common meter, if even have one at all. This is seen almost entirely throughout the opening piece, but around the 2:30 mark is a great example. As more instruments are added to the piece, the listener begins to quickly lose any sense of rhythm whatsoever. Rather than nice melodies fitting together perfectly and on beat, Stravinsky barrages the audience with a harsh, arhythmic jumble of sounds, perfectly relating to the 20th century aesthetic of stratification, as the layers keep adding on. This is not the only time we see this, as Stravinsky alternates between moments of chaos and moments of calm. At around the 14:30 mark, near the end of the opening piece, we hear this again. However this time bass drums and cymbals are added, creating even more chaos. The fact that the usually beat-steady percussion ensemble now sounds like a train-wreck further relates to the point explained earlier regarding instrumentation. The audience is expecting the bass drum and cymbals to keep a sense of order for the music, however it simply appears to be causing disorder. However, this piece is not entirely arhythmic. In fact there are certain points where there is a definite beat. Even with this being the case, Stravinsky still finds a way to make a unique sound, and make it difficult to find a meter. At around the 3:30 mark, the strings play a low, pulsing repetition of a single note. Instead of having the 'strong beat' on every second, third or fourth beat (which would make it easy to lock down a common meter), Stravinsky adds strong beats in a more random fashion: one on the second beat, one on the fourth, again on the second, then on the fifth, etc.
The last musical element that helps express these aesthetics is melody. In the 20th century, Stravinsky as well as many composers and musicians began to use the whole-tone and pentatonic scales extremely often. In the opening minute or so of the piece, we hear the solo bassoon playing on the whole-tone scale. As with the case for most of the musical elements, the use of the whole-tone scale adds a feeling of randomness and awkwardness, as certain tones do not seem to fit together well at first listen. This relates to the modernist aesthetic of disjunction, and is seen commonly in music of the time with the increase of dissonant chords and distant melodies.
Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring is a perfect example of how music can reveal the specific aesthetics of a time period. This particular piece expressed modernist ideals like stratification and disjunction through it's particular musical elements such as instrumentation, rhythm, and melody. By altering these elements, Stravinsky essentially paved the way for what was to come in 20th century music.
Outline
Thesis: Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring demonstrates popular aesthetics of modernism in the 20th-century through it's various musical elements.
P1: Instrumentation - adding layers of instruments, as well as making them play in unusual situations. Relates to modernist aesthetic of stratification.
P2: Rhythm - Often arhythmic, with a jumble of instruments. Relates to stratification and fragmentation.
P3: Melody - whole-tone scale, relates to disjunction.
Yesterday afternoon I attended a senior recital in Ford Hall, in the music school. The recital was for Robert Oldroyd, a horn player. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this recital. One main reason I enjoyed it was because of how unique it was - I wasn't really expecting the different types of instrumentation that accompanied the horn.
For example, the opening piece was a duet - one horn and a piano. I guess I don't listen to classical music very much, but I can honestly say I've never heard a piece with only those two instruments. Besides the fact that I was surprised by the instrumentation, I felt as shit piece was similar to music we have studied from the enlightenment. I say this mainly because of the phrasing and melodies. Everything seemed fairly predictable, as phrases always seemed to 'come back home' (end in a PAC). The melody was a bit more repetitive than I'm used to hearing in that style of music, but then again, I don't listen to the genre much. That all being said, I definitely enjoyed the piece, as both musicians did a great job at conveying a joyous, almost dream-like mood.
The next piece, Room-Music Tit-Bits, was quite different. Rather than just having two instruments (piano and horn), there were five on stage. These instruments consisted of the horn (of course), an oboe, a clarinet, a bassoon, and a flute. From a phrasing standpoint, I thought it was similar to the first piece in the fact that it was fairly predictable. However, unlike the first piece, instrumentation was obviously completely different. The fact that it was now an all-woodwind ensemble was definitely less foreign to me, as that's something I've heard many times.
One other song that stuck out to me was "Elegie". In this piece, the pianist came back on stage. However, it wasn't this weird horn/piano combination that threw me off this time. Even with the same instrumentation of the first piece, it sounded COMPLETELY different. I couldn't follow the phrase pattern at all. The music seemed disjointed, with random bursts of loudness and purposeful (hopefully) screeches from the horn. It wasn't just the horn doing these outbursts either, as for the most part the song seemed to be a call and response between the two instruments. Overall, while wouldn't particularly have enjoyed listening to this for leisure, it was interesting. What came to my mind immediately was the Beethoven pieces we talked about, with random notes that would startle his audiences.
In the end, I greatly enjoyed the recital. It was different that anything I've ever really heard before.
The painting shown above is titled Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist. It was created by Caspar David Friedrich in 1818, during the Romantic period. In my opinion, this painting greatly expresses many of the popular ideals from the Romantic period. The first ideal comes from the fact that this man is this man, the wanderer, is completely alone in this vast landscape. As we talked about in class, many paintings from the Romantic era depict humans alongside nature. The inclusion of natural landscapes (as opposed to industrial landscapes) is used to express the Romantic ideal of straying away from society. Unlike artwork from the enlightenment, which often showed people of specific class status in cities and towns, romantic artwork would often represent humans as an abstract object, simply part of nature. This painting differs from some of the other artwork we looked at in class, as the human in this case is actually meant to be the center focus. Other artwork would show humans in the corner of a vast landscape, barely noticeable. Although the human is not represented as that insignificant in this painting, he is still shown as puny in comparison to nature.
The fact that this painting has one solitary person, right in the middle, expresses another Romantic ideal. The subject is portrayed in a heroic manner, seemingly conquering the land. Heroes were a big part of the romantic period, as society began to greatly admire individuals, such as Beethoven and other artists of the time. Furthermore, the "hero"'s positioning represents another romantic ideal. We can only see him from behind, as he is staring out, contemplating. This is similar to a painting we examined in class, where the man was leaning over a railing, staring out. The idea of dreaming and abstract forward-thinking was definitely a big part of the Romantic period, and is further expressed by our hero staring out over the endless landscape, in deep contemplation.
The piece I chose for this assignment is the third movement from Mozart's Piano Quartet in G Minor. Now, while the entire quartet (and name of piece) is in minor, this particular movement is actually in G major. The parts of the movement I will be examining are the opening two phrases, which together create the opening period.
Above is my phrase diagram of the opening period. I identified the meter as 2/4, however I was hesitant as whether to call it 2/4 or 4/4. In a 2/4 metering, each phrase has 8 measures. Both phrases are melodically identical, barring their endings, or cadences. Thus I labeled phrase 1 as "a" and phrase 2 as "a'" (or "a prime"). It was a bit tricky finding the cadence note for the first phrase, as the everything does not end nicely on one note. Rather, there is a quick note from the piano accompaniment. After first identifying and humming the melody's tonic ("do"), I then hummed the cadence note for the first phrase. I found that it was "sol" (the 5th), therefore meaning phrase 1 ends on an IAC. Like I said before, the second phrase follows essentially the exact same melody, however, this time brings it back home (to tonic) and ends with a perfect authentic cadence (PAC). These two opening phrases compose what is known as a "Parallel Sectional Period".
I thought it was interesting how even though the two phrases of the period are identical melodically, they somehow sound very different. This is because of the vast difference in texture. While "a" is only one piano playing the melody, "a prime" consists of that same piano playing along with what seems like a full string quartet. The youtube video I've posted is actually very interesting as it shows a visualization of each instrument, similar to the graphs we *attempted* to draw in class.
While analyzing this period, I realized that it truly does capture the essence of the enlightenment. We talked in class about how music from the age of reason was generally very symmetrical. This period exemplifies that as does the rest of the piece, through the repetition of phrases. Another main aspect of the enlightenment that is shown through this piece is the idea of rationalizing a problem, and then coming to an agreement or conclusion. This period does that exact thing. In the first period, it is a lone piano, trying to come to a conclusion by itself. It does not really succeed, ending in an IAC, leaving the listener with an incomplete feeling. However, the piano then gets some help from the string quartet. This symbolizes, if you will, the idea of working together as a group (as opposed to just one person) to find an answer. This "answer" is shown musically with the PAC, as now the listener is left with a sense of completion.
Over the past few classes, we have been discussing the "Age of Enlightenment", and the ideals that were present during said time period. Two of the most important topics we have discussed have the presence (or lack thereof) of the juxtaposing ideas of individual liberty and social control.
In a sense, I feel that the most important aspect of the enlightenment is the increasing demand for this "individual liberty", or freedom, if you will. This is exemplified by the also-increasing democratic views and ideals of society in Great Britain and it's colonies.
However, while these ideals are a major part of the period of enlightenment, they are not its only defining characteristics. In fact, the movement of individual liberty and freedom did not come out of thin air. Rather, they came from the new and largely-increasing middle class, who became the face of these ideals. A whole new social scene- the middle class- brought new art, music, etc. with them. As we saw in class, much of the artwork created in the enlightenment depicted scenes of middle-class citizens in "every-day" settings. This is opposed to the common classical and baroque period paintings, which seemingly only depict scenes from the extreme upper-class.
However, although the middle class was on the rise, that's not to say there was a large upper-class, albeit decreasing in size. Another painting we saw in class was a satire, showing a wedding between an upper-class man and a middle-class woman. It showed the obvious separation between the two classes. The comically snobby rich juxtaposed to the common working man.
Another major aspect of the enlightenment was the advancements in science. Along with this, of course, came new ideas and opinions regarding religion. While before, NOT believing in God and practicing christianity was almost unheard of. However as people (women and men) became more educated and knowledgeable, new ideas came about. Once again, this all relates back to the rapid increase in demand for individual liberty, as people began to want religious freedom as well.
Over the past week, a main objective of our class has been to find a suitable definition for folk music. At first glance, you wouldn't think this would be a difficult task. However, it is not that simple. Should it be defined by it's social importance, or should we define it solely by a single unique sound that it conveys? After thinking it over, I came up with what I consider a good overall definition: "Simple down to earth music created for the purpose of telling a stories and bringing people together." While I understand that most music is created to tell a story, folk music is unique in the fact that it is not limited to professional musicians. Anyone - whether they are professionally trained or not - can create music to tell their own story.
In Bruno Nettl's essay An Introduction to Folk Music in the United States, he too attempts to provide a concrete definition of folk music. At first, he does this by comparing what is considered "folk music" to what he calls "cultivated" and "primitive" music. In this instance, "cultivated" means music created by trained musicians, often professionals. "Primitive" music is the exact opposite - music created by common folk, often what he described as "pre-literate". I look at these two types of music (primitive and cultivated) as the two extremes of folk music. Folk music can be created by people with little to no education, played for only themselves or a few people. On the other hand, we see trained professionals today who play folk in front of sold-out arenas. This is a large part of why folk music is so unique, as theres is such a large variety of types of people who listen and play it.
Two other words used a lot when defining folk music are the contrasting "simple" and "complex". Both words can have different implications when describing styles of music. Most genres - including folk - carry the best of both worlds. To me, folk is generally simple in the fact that most songs follow fairly basic chord progressions and melodies, with phrasing that is not so complex. However, as I said in my own definition of folk music the stories that many folk songs tell are indeed complex and require thought and analysis. Again, not all folk music falls under these guidelines but in general this can be considered true. This is contrasted against much of popular music nowadays. Today, even amateur bands and artists can gain access to professional sound recording equipment, making their music sound sophisticated and complex, even if the underlying message or story is rather basic or cliche. Similarly, the increasing popularity of instrumental electronic/techno music often times is produced extremely well, with amazing sound and complexity. However, it may lack any resemblance of a story or message whatsoever. Therefore I make my case that most music has complexities, just some appear in different forms than others. This is why I don't necessarily agree with the statement "folk music is simple". It simply is not as clear-cut as that.
Last night (Thursday, September 20th) I attended an Alumni Recital at the Hockett Family Recital Hall in Ithaca College. It was conducted by Jonathan Musgrave. The recital consisted of two pieces - Richard Strauss' Serenade in E-flat, and Motzart's Serenade in C minor. The ensemble was rather small, and consisted of only woodwinds and a few horns (however there was a contrabass on the Strauss performance.
The first piece, Serenade in E-flat, was a classical piece composed by Richard Strauss in 1881. At first, I wasn't really sure how it would sound, seeing as the ensemble was so small, and the range of instruments was not great. Once they began playing, however, I was amazed at the completeness of the sound, and the diverse range of textures that I was hearing. The simple addition of the contrabass made a huge impact on the first piece in my opinion, as it properly accentuated the emotions of the music. In addition to the bass, the horns definitely added another important element. Although they have a completely different sound than the other woodwinds, I found that they were played with such grace that they did not overpower the music. Their solo in the beginning of the piece was simply astounding. The last instrument that really stuck out to me was the oboe. Near the end of the piece, there was an oboe solo played which to me introduced a completely new emotion/feel to the music. For some reason to me, it sounded somewhat jazzy (to a very slight extent). This solo was probably my favorite section of the piece, and it really captured my attention.
The second piece, Serenade in C minor (Motzart) was broken in to four sections:
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Menuetto in Canone
IV. Allegro
For this piece, the ensemble was decreased in size, as the contrabass left with a few other instruments (I can't recall exactly what left). As the program said, the piece sure enough started out in a rather up-tempo pace (allegro). The section ended, and the ensemble moved on to the Andante section, a much slower pace. To be honest, the first two sections of the piece were not so memorable to me, as everything kind of seemed to blend together. Section III, however, grabbed my attention a bit more. Now, I have absolutely no clue what "Menuetto in Canone" means, so I had no clue what was coming when section III began. The main part that stuck out to me was the 3/4 timing. It definitely had a more energized feel than the last two sections. While the solos and differing textures did not impress me as much as the firs piece, the tempo and overall sound of this section was a lot different than anything else in the program. Lastly, the piece ended in Allegro once again. This reminded me about the "coming home" concept we were talking about in class, as the piece began in Allegro, went through a couple very different sounding sections, yet ended in Allegro, the same way it began.
Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at this recital. The way we've been taught to 'critically listen' to music in class over the past few weeks increased my appreciation and enjoyment of the music greatly. I found myself separating the different textures and zoning in on them individually. While I did attempt to listen for phrasing and cadences, it was extremely difficult. The style of music they played was very different than anything we've analyzed in class, as folk music is much more repetitive, making it easier to listen for cadences, etc.
Yesterday afternoon, I took a little trip down to the commons with my brother to grab some lunch and go on a stroll around the Porchfest festival. I honestly wasn't really sure what Porchfest was going to be like, all I thought was that there would be a lot of fiddles, banjos, and old-timey folk music. And while I did in fact see fiddles, banjos, etc. when I got there, I was very surprised by the variety of music that was actually played. Even though I didn't stay for long (only strolled around for around 20 minutes) I was bombarded by a a large variety of musical genres and instruments. Everywhere I walked, I would encounter very different sounds.
For the most part, none of the music I heard was very refined. Now that's not to say there weren't great musicians, it's just that it was usually very relaxed. The musicians took their time, and just had fun with it. It was a very different experience than most concerts, as it felt like there was more of a connection between performers and listeners. Because of this, I definitely found it harder to listen analytically to the musical phrasing and whatnot. So, in general, I just listened casually and enjoyed the music.
The most interesting thing I saw was this 3-piece band with a sort of 70s funk-rock guitar sound. (sort of like "Phish", jam-band esque) I don't recall the name, but It was just so completely different from anything I would have expected to see there. Again, these didn't seem like the most refined musicians, it was just some guys having fun doing what they loved. That relaxed atmosphere is what I thought was really cool Porchfest, and made me really enjoy my brief stroll through.
The process of finding a good song for this blog post was quite troublesome for me. After a solid amount of time rifling through my iTunes library, I realized it would probably be easiest if I narrowed my selections down to a specific genre and time period. While not necessarily the style of music i listen to on a daily basis, rock and roll from the 1960s (specifically bands with a soul/swing style like the Temptations and Chubby Checker) seemed to have the simplest metering and phrasing patterns to keep track of, thus leading to my decision of the 1961 song "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker.
This feel-good summertime hit single begins with a simple beat being kept on the kit, as Chubby Checker provides a spoken intro. We can immediately pick up on the 4/4 meter of the song and after about 10 bars the intro ends, Checker says "We're gonna do the twist and it goes like this!" and the chorus begins.
The chorus consists of four phrases, and each phrase consists of 4 bars. In the first phrase of the song, Checker sings "Come on let's twist again, like we did last summer!" The word "summer" signifies an open cadence, as it feels incomplete. I believe it is an IAC, as it doesn't feel quite as incomplete as a half cadence. I tried to figure out the tonic and dominant, and I tried to sing do and sol along with the song, however I was unsuccessful. I guess my ears still are not quite sharp enough to pick it out. The following two phrases have open cadences as well. It is not until the final cadence ("twisting time is here!") that there is a closed cadence, a PAC. This concludes the chorus. The same basic pattern is repeated throughout the rest of the song, even in the different verses.
The song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (or simply, "Dixie") by The Band is a story about the downfall of the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War. The lyrics are sung from the point of view of a Virgil Cain, a man working for the confederacy and living in the south during the time of their defeat. The following version of the song is a live recording from The Band's last concert together in 1976, titled "The Last Waltz". "The Last Waltz" is said to be one of the greatest live albums in the history of rock music.
The song begins with a slow, somber introductory tune from a horn section, foreshadowing the depressing nature of Virgil Cain's story. At this point, there is no obvious meter. However, as the last note of the horn section rings out, drummer Levon Helm plays a four-count with the kick drum, signaling a 4/4 meter. One the next beat, the brass instruments come back in along with the piano, playing a punchy-sounding upward scale. This provides an an intro to the first verse, as it smoothly transitions the song in to the 4/4 timing. This same basic 4 count bar is seen before the start of every verse in the song, and is used for the same reason every time- a transition, to get the song back on track in 4/4.
At the end of every verse, Helm (vocals) holds a single note for an 8 count, accompanied by the notes held by the other instruments. These long notes create a sense of desperation in his voice, as the background instruments seem to fade away. However, right after the 8 count, Helm sings the first line of the chorus, "The night they drove old dixie down". Unlike the verse however, he now has two backup vocals providing a three-person chorus. The chorus, along with the re-introduction of the brass section further expresses the desperation and fight shown in Virgil Cain, the narrator. Although he knows the war is over, and his side has lost, he seems unwilling to accept the fact and continues to press on.
I chose the live version of this song as opposed to the studio recording mainly because of the added texture. The studio record does not include the massive amounts of horns and backing instruments, which is what I feel makes this song so great. It seems as if every time the chorus comes up (the song has 4 in total, 2 separated by verses, with the last two repeated) the brass section, piano, guitar, drums and bass all seem to become more evident and loud. This chronological addition addition of texture further reveals Virgil's anguish as he seemingly reaches a breaking point throughout the song.
